Sinister Sundown
by Yono Lindquist
Summary: AU. War has hit the country. Trying to take care of his friends, Riku breaks in at a military base to steal supplies. Unexpectedly, this turns out to be the beginning of his fight against the oppression with the rebel group AVALANCHE.
1. Destiny Islands

A/N: Hey, everyone! So, this is my first fanfiction, and I finally figured out how to leave en author's note – turns out it wasn't as hard as I thought so I guess I'm just a little slow, haha. Anyway, I hope you'll like my story and feel free to leave a comment or review~, I love getting feedback, no matter what the kind, since I think there's always something to work on.  
The story takes place in an alternate universe. The country's oppressed by a foreign army with whom the government cooperates without further protests. Riku, Sora, and Kairi have found a refuge in the cave where they used to play as children and are fighting to get by. When Riku finds the enemy's military base and decides to break in to steal some of their supplies, however, things turn out quite different than he had expected … That's the basic outline for the first few chapters. Cloud is gonna show up later to play a big role, so please be patient and stay with me, okay? I really hope you'll enjoy the story~

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**Chapter 1: Destiny Islands**

"We're almost out of supplies." His friend's voice woke Riku up from the day-dreaming he'd been at since he'd gotten up at dawn, too hungry to stay asleep and too alert to even stay in bed. Turning around on the hard cliff surface to face the brunette exiting the cave behind him, Riku knew what that meant. There were nearly no food left in their stock, almost nothing to keep them going. He had thought it might last for a little while longer if he made sure to eat as little as possible, leaving most of it to Sora and Kairi, but apparently he'd miscalculated, and now they would have to find a way to get a hold of something eatable soon or else all three of them would soon be starving and unable to defend themselves should they be found. So far, they had managed to stay in hiding, but who knew how long that would last with soldiers from the government roaming the beaches of Destiny Islands? He did not know just what they were looking for anyway, but he knew that he hated them with all of his heart because it was their fault his and his friends' home had been destroyed to such a degree, most of the island having been deserted since the bombing incident at the mall that had started it all.

"We've gotta take a chance and go out on the island, then," Riku replied, having already taken this decision a while ago. "We could look for coconuts, mushrooms, and maybe – if we're lucky – we can find some eggs or fish, too."

"Sounds like an idea." Sora, sending his friend a smile, sat down next to him. "I bet Kairi won't mind some exploring either."

"Just remember that we've gotta be careful," Riku reminded him because knowing Sora he'd soon be making all sorts of funny plans, subconsciously pretending their situation was all a game. "Don't go out in the open, and do not – and I mean it! – do not get anywhere close to the town! Got it?"

"I know," Sora told him. "I'm not all stupid. And I really don't wanna go there either."

"Yeah… Too many memories."

They sat there silent for a while before Sora got up again, his smile returning.

"Anyway, I'll go tell Kairi and we can start planning!" he exclaimed. "See you in a bit!"

Then he hurried inside. Riku leaned back towards the stone wall, letting out a small sigh as he gave the island in front of him another look. It seemed so peaceful right now but he knew it wouldn't last. Soon, there would be shootings and explosions when the soldiers started up whatever they were doing again. He hated it. Hated the enemy, hated what had happened... hated being stuck here, unable to at least _do_ something. He honestly had no idea what that something could be, he just knew he wanted to act. He had never been the type to just sit around waiting. He had even considered sneaking onto one of the container ships regularly visiting the area and get out of there.

But then, there were Sora and Kairi to protect. They were only younger than him by a year, yet their attitude to life was so very different, probably because their lives had not been as rough as his. He was used to taking care of himself so taking care of them, too, was not that much of an extra burden. Plus, he would have been lonely without them.

Letting his gaze fly in the direction of the forest of palm trees behind which he knew their hometown was located, he narrowed his eyes, an expression of rage suddenly finding its way onto his face. There wasn't much left of it by now and he was willing to bet that if he went there, he might even be unable to recognize anything. And it was all the fault of the oppressing soldiers. The government, though, had not exactly done much to stop them, weakly giving up as soon as they had been threatened even a little instead of making a stand, so they were definitely at fault too. Had it been him he would have never given in, no matter what they'd do to him …

Lying down, he looked at the sky instead, the memories of the day he, Sora and Kairi had gone into hiding streaming back to his mind. It had been the same day the mall had been blown up, making the attack on their country official. Destiny Islands had all thought they had been too far in the outskirts to have been a possible target but apparently they had been wrong. Many had died that day, including both his and the others' parents. It had been the grand opening after the reconstruction so practically everyone had gone …

Shaking the thoughts away, Riku got up. He better get started, the sooner the better. It would do them no good to sit around all day. Quickly making his appearance in the cave entrance, he called out:

"I'll take the forest area. You guys go to the beach side."

"Be careful." Kairi stood, her thin face showing worry. She had definitely been the one most affected by what had happened and a pang of guilt for not being able to take better care of her suddenly hit Riku.

"I will." He forced himself to stay calm, letting on that confident attitude he always got on with. Only Sora had been able to see through it in the past, making him special to Riku. The three of them had been friends for a very long time but he had always felt closer to Sora than to Kairi, though he wasn't sure exactly why. Maybe it was just Sora's happiness and full acceptance of even the faults he knew Riku had, though they were well concealed under his attitude. Riku wasn't exactly sure.

But one thing he _was_ sure of was that he needed to go if he wanted to cover the forest by himself before twilight. Waving as he turned, he quickly unrolled their hidden rope and started climbing. After his feet hit the soft sand underneath, he tugged the rope in a crack, making sure no one would be able to see it. Sora and Kairi would be using a ladder of wood they had made so he did not have to worry about them being unable to get down if he stuffed the rope too tightly.

There was no one in sight, yet he decided it was best to be careful. While it would be a whole lot faster just running across the beach to get to the forest he knew he would be too easily spotted. After having avoided the soldiers for so long he had no intention of getting caught while on supply hunt, especially because Sora and Kairi really needed to get something to eat soon. He himself could go without food for a couple of days, but he was not sure they would be able to.

Sneaking along the cliffs, he kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary and, reaching the edge of the forest, slipped in among the trees before he finally let out a breath of relief. So far so good. Now he just had to make sure he didn't run into any soldiers while searching for food. The forest was closer to the city than the beach side and thereby more dangerous, that was why he had wanted to take this route. He knew he was better at hiding himself than the others and he couldn't have them getting caught on his conscience. Everyone knew orphans were shipped off to some remote working camp where they would spend the rest of their days trying to please the government by making weapons or the like for the enemy. The rumors of that had already gotten around when the mall exploded and was one of the reasons for Riku to get Sora and Kairi and get the hell away from the city.

He remembered sneaking through the same forest he was currently standing in, leading them along the animal trails he had found on his previous explorations of the woods. They had been crying then, though Sora had tried to conceal it and stay brave because Riku wasn't shedding any tears. Not that he hadn't, later. After all, it had been just as much of a terrible surprise for him to hear the news. He had just made sure no one had been around when he finally let his emotions surface after the three of them had reached the cave that used to be their secret hiding place back when it had all just been a game. Now, life had suddenly turned from childhood play into the harsh reality of war.

Turning a corner, Riku could not help but smile as he found exactly what he had been looking for. Picking up a good deal of the very eatable mushrooms his father had once shown him, he moved further into the wilderness. A moment after he stiffened as his ears caught the sound of what might be footsteps. Frowning, he ducked behind a bush, not wanting to take any chances, and praising himself lucky for that after a moment as a small group of soldiers passed by on the trail. He kept his calm and counted them. Relaxing when he realized there were only five of them he only barely stopped himself from letting out a sigh of relief. They could easily still be a threat to him after all, being both bigger, stronger, and – probably the most important thing – better armed. There wasn't much he could do with his hands full of mushrooms; he doubted they would run away screaming if he started throwing plants at them.

But where were they going? His curiosity taking over, he decided he might as well follow. He had no idea where the enemy kept their headquarters and that could end up being pretty useful information. All he knew about the army was that they used the island's harbor to get to and from the place, and that was no wonder. Destiny Islands didn't have any other way of getting in contact with the main land after all.

Letting go of the mushrooms since he could always pick them up on his way back, Riku made sure to stay absolutely silent when he followed the little group from a distance big enough that he could probably lose them quickly if they suddenly decided to turn around and notice him since he was more than certain he knew the area better than they did. None of them had the advantage of having grown up here.

The soldiers did not head for the town as he had expected. Instead, they turned and took another route going around it. Riku knew he was probably getting onto dangerous grounds now but there was no way he would be backing out when obviously their base was somewhere quite different from what he had expected. He knew more or less their current position on the island so he was sure he would be able to find his way back afterwards, and now he had begun to speculate. Seen from a tactical viewpoint, if he had been a soldier where would he keep his headquarters? Somewhere no one would see it coming from the sea … Maybe they had turned the closed-down factory into a place where people could actually live? There had been rumors going around that the buildings were haunted so most children had stayed away from there, but he had gone there once just to check and knew that wasn't true. Whoever started those rumors had probably just been afraid curious kids would get hurt seeing how the ceiling of several buildings had seemed more than ready to cave in at any time.

Rounding the next corner, Riku knew he had been right. It didn't much look like the factory anymore; the whole place seemed to have been repaired and remade by the enemies. He placed himself hidden behind another bush and watched as the group of soldiers entered. So this was where they stayed. Which meant they probably had quite a lot of supplies stuffed somewhere. If he could only find out in which building they kept them…

A plan started to form in his mind, and though he would need to do quite a lot more observation he was pretty convinced he may actually be able to pull it off. It would definitely be worth it, too. Smirking, Riku got up and silently sneaked back through the woods. Remembering to pick up the mushrooms and some other eatable plants on the way he headed back towards the cave, still deep in thoughts.

When he got there and had climbed the rope, though, a surprise was waiting for him. One he definitely did not like. A man was lying on the make-do beds of moss they had managed to create. He was pretty out of it, seemingly having fainted from blood loss, a theory supported by a chest wound, but what really concerned Riku was his clothing since he was wearing the unmistakable uniform of the oppressors' army. Almost shaking, Riku slowly moved closer to take a better look at the guy. What the hell was someone like that doing here, in their home?

As if his soundless question had been heard, Sora stepped out into the room from the smaller part of the cave they used as kitchen and food chamber and – seeing Riku's stare – quickly spoke up.

"There was evidence of close combat fighting at the beach side, in direction of the harbor."

Spinning around, Riku shifted his glare to his friend barely listening to his words.

"Sora! Why the hell did you bring a soldier into our home?" he raged, not quite comprehending how in the world the other could be that stupid.

"But he's injured!" Sora defended himself. "Badly! He's gonna die if we don't do something!"

"And why shouldn't he? He's with the government, damnit! He's the _enemy_, remember?"

Riku stared angrily at the brunette in part rage and part disbelief. But Sora just stared right back at him, his stubborn gaze not wavering even a little.

"I don't care!"

Riku let out a sigh in exasperation. He had never been able to stand up for long against that pouty glare and he knew Sora meant no harm. Hell, all his sometimes way-too-kind friend had probably seen was that a man was losing his life. And, glancing over again at the soldier, the guy really _did_ seem to be bleeding out …

"I swear, your naivety is gonna be the death of me some day!" Riku groaned. "Now move, we've gotta get that wound of his treated quickly."

"Thanks, Riku!" With a huge smile on his face and more than happy to oblige, Sora ran to get the medical things stolen from the hospital which they had stored in the back of the cave because all three of them knew they were most likely to be needing them sometime soon, what with the situation being the way it was.

While waiting for Sora to return, Riku forced himself to forget his hate for the moment and take a closer look at the soldier's wound. It looked very serious and he wasn't really sure whether anything they could do for the guy would have any actual effect on the outcome. Somehow it was weird; he had never been this close to a severely injured man and yet he felt calm. There was no urge to scream, no urge to throw up, or maybe even run away from it. But then again, people dying were not exactly a new thing in the midst of a war and he had never been afraid of blood like some others. Maybe that combination was what kept him collected while he slowly opened the soldier's jacket and tore the shirt he was wearing underneath so the wound was fully exposed.

The man suddenly let out a groan of pain, making Riku jump back, his heart pounding. Who knew what such a guy would instinctively do if he found a stranger standing over him while in that state? But the man did not wake up and Riku dared moving closer again. The thought hit him that maybe he should check whether the soldier had been carrying any weapons with him as soon as possible. And since Sora still had not returned he might as well do it now.

The search did not take long. He found a gun at his belt and a knife in his boot. Smart trick. It would be fully concealed there and was probably meant as a back-up weapon should he lose the gun. Maybe that was military tactic; for all Riku knew those guys could have been trained in whatever the government thought might be useful to subdue those who protested against the quick surrender that had been made. There had to be some sort of rebel factions on the main land, but rumors about what was happening over there never seemed to reach Destiny Islands so he wouldn't know.

Riku hid the weapons underneath one of the blankets only seconds before Sora finally returned, his arms filled with every medical thing he could carry. Dumping them in a huge pile next to Riku, the brunette sat down beside him.

"So, what do we do first?"

"Cleanse the wound, of course," Riku replied. Finding a bottle of water among the other things, he grabbed a small towel, drenched it, and slowly started drying away as much blood, sand, and mud as possible. Only then did he realize just how deep the wound was, the bleeding not subsiding even one bit. Biting his lip, Riku decided they would just have to take the chance of it getting infested and concentrate on keeping the guy's blood inside his body and not all over the cave floor.

"Hand me another towel and some bandages."

Sora obeyed and watched with huge eyes as Riku put pressure on the wound. It was all he could do. Luckily for the soldier the wound was not big, only deep, and because he had managed to dry off most of the dirt before, Riku could tell whatever weapon had been used did not seem to have hit any critical points or the man would probably have been dead by now.

It took a while, but in the end, between himself and Sora they were able to stop the bleeding enough to bandage the guy. Sitting back, Riku dried his forehead and watched how the man was lying still. He was not sure whether or not that was a good sign but at least his chest was still moving so he kept breathing. And _that_ at least had to be a good thing.

Now finally able to relax a little, Riku took a look at the soldier's face. The guy seemed to have been in a lot of tough battles, a scar running across his face more or less marking him as a veteran. His brown hair was nearly as long as Riku's silver hair but not as straight, and as Riku took in his features he could not help but wonder what such a man was thinking and why he was working for the military. Was it something he had dedicated himself to? Did he believe the people of this country needed to be struck down for whatever reason? Or maybe he just liked killing people? On the contrary, it could also be the unlikely explanation that the guy somehow felt he was doing the right thing.

Not wanting to take any chances when or if the man woke up, Riku decided to put the weapons he had been carrying somewhere a bit harder to locate than under the bed covers. Standing up to do just that he suddenly felt the full effects of the day's hard work, exhaustion hitting him like a wave in stormy weather, and for a moment he had to lean against the wall. Then he got himself together, grabbed the weapons, and went to stuff them behind some of the extra clothes each of them had also managed to take with them when they ran from town. That would be a safe enough place for now; he could always find somewhere better later on.

Grabbing an extra blanket, he placed himself on the floor. He had meant to go through the plan for stealing supplies before sleeping but it seemed his mind was not agreeing and soon after he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Riku felt someone tugging the blanket better around him before he drifted off into sleep.

o0o

"Riku." Kairi's voice reached him and he stirred, opening his eyes only slightly to look at her. "He's awake."

At first he had no idea who she could be talking about because she wouldn't start telling him such things about Sora. But then everything that had happened yesterday came back to him and he almost jumped up and braced himself for meeting the soldier. He had to admit that he was actually a little afraid seeing how the guy was an enemy after all. How would the man react to them being here? Or to having been brought here?

Then Riku snorted. The soldier should be grateful and if he wasn't Riku would have no problem throwing him out right away to rot in the sand. There was no way anyone would be able to get far on their own with such an injury. To be honest he was surprised the guy was actually awake that soon after getting hit in the chest.

Throwing the blanket aside he got himself together and stood, quickly rubbing sleep from his eyes while nodding at Kairi.

"I'll see to it. How does he look?"

"Better," she replied hesitantly, with that little smile of her. "A lot, actually. He's regained some color, but I really do think you'll need to change those bandages sometime soon – they're all red."

"I'll consider it," he said. "Depends on how willing to cooperate the soldier is."

"I understand." This time her smile was genuine. "Go check on him, Riku. In the meantime, I'll find you something to eat."

That's right. Food. He needed to plan that supply stealing mission or they would very soon be out of anything eatable. Even with the things he and the others had managed to gather yesterday they still barely had enough to get by just for twenty-four hours, and the prospect of having to risk going out on the island every day was not exactly inviting since leaving the cave meant leaving safety and putting themselves in danger of getting caught by the enemy, something none of them found very appealing to think about. So he would have to think this through very carefully. But more important right now was finding out whether or not their uninvited guest was hostile.

"Don't worry about it," he told Kairi. "I'm not really hungry, so…"

"Yes, you are." Surprised at her interrupting him, Riku could do nothing but stare at her. There was a glint in Kairi's eyes as she put her hands at her side and met his. "I'm no fool, Riku. Don't you think I've noticed how you barely eat? You don't have to make that sacrifice for us, you know. Between the three of us, I'm sure we'll be able to figure _something _out. We're friends, right? No one should go hungry alone."

He couldn't help but smile at her words. Okay, so maybe it had been stupid to think they would not realize how he left most of the supplies for the two of them. And somehow, the prospect of getting a full stomach again seemed very hard to reject.

"I guess you're right," was his way of apologizing. "Breakfast would be great."

"Good!" The moment of confrontation having passed, Kairi seemed to relax again. "I'll go prepare some, then."

And off she went to the make-do kitchen area. Shaking his head still wearing a little smile he headed for the other end of the cave. They were lucky they'd had this place all along. It was more like a very small house than your typical rock cave, and even though there were only two rooms, those were big enough that someone at the entrance would not have been able to overhear their conversation unless they had been straining their ears to do so.

As soon as the soldier came into full view Riku's smile disappeared. The man was sitting up, leaning against the wall. Though his breathing still seemed a little shallow it was true he did look much healthier than he had the day before. It was hard to believe he had been nearly dead when Sora had brought him to their home and Riku could not help but wonder whether all the soldiers of the government were that tough. If so, he wouldn't want to fight them one on one if he could avoid it. Sneaking in on them with stealth movements before they could even notice him would definitely be more effective should it come to a situation where he needed to deal with some anyway.

Pushing the thoughts away for now, he placed himself in front of the soldier and crossed his arms.

"So you woke up. I thought you might have died while I slept."

Not intimidated by Riku's less-than-welcoming opening comment the soldier looked up at him.

"You're the one who took care of me?" he asked.

"If you by 'taking care' mean bandaged your wound and saved you from bleeding out, then yeah, that's me."

"… Thank you."

Admitted, that was not quite what he had expected to hear. Despite from the fact that all soldiers in theory were humans just like himself he would never have believed they could actually show gratitude. Unsure of how to deal with this sudden humble attitude from the man Riku was quiet for a moment or more. Then he shrugged.

"You're welcome, I guess. Couldn't really just leave you like that, now could I?"

"I appreciate it. What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

At his defensive tone the soldier raised his hands slightly. The movement, though, apparently made a shot of pain go through him because he grimaced and quickly let them fall back down before replying.

"Relax. I just want to be able to call the one who saved my life by name."

That sounded just about fair enough. Besides, it would not do Riku any harm to give away his name. It wasn't like the government would be able to trace him or something based on that and with the war going on they should have way more important things to deal with than a few orphans hiding in a cave on the already totally controlled island. There was no way the three of them would be viewed as a threat even if the soldier should decide to tell on them. Nevertheless, taking chances were definitely stupid so he would just have to make sure that didn't happen.

"I'm Riku." Hopefully the guy was not expecting to get his last name as well. If so, he would be terribly disappointed. "And you? Just so I won't have to refer to you as 'the government soldier' all the time."

If the man caught the hostility in Riku's words he did not show it. Instead he kept his calm and even sent him the shadow of a smile, nodding once as if to approve of his reason for asking.

"I'm Squall, though I mostly go by Leon. Long story."

Which Riku was sure he did not have any interest in hearing so he would appreciate it if the man kept it to himself. Luckily, it didn't seem like he was about to share. Riku, on the other hand, had quite a few things on his mind he would like to say. Leaning back against the wall opposite the soldier, he quickly glanced around to make sure neither Sora nor Kairi was close enough to listen in on them. He knew especially Sora would not like the direction in which he was about to lead the conversation; his friend being too soft to find it appropriate to throw a very clear warning at an injured person, even if that person was the enemy.

"So, Squall, or Leon, or whatever…" Riku began when he was certain it was only the two of them present. "There are some conditions to you being here. And you better pay very good attention, 'cause I'm not afraid of doing whatever I have to in order to keep my friends safe."

"I'm listening." And he really _did_ seem to be, the soldier's face having turned gravely serious all of a sudden.

"We – me, Sora, and Kairi in there – have lived here since what you guys did to the mall at the opening ceremony, and we have no intentions of surrendering our fates to the hands of the government. Which is why I cannot let you reveal our presence here to whatever superiors you're working under. Do you understand?"

"In other words, what you're saying is that should I get the idea of telling anyone else about this place, you'd be prepared to kill me?"

"Yes." Put that way it sounded slightly odd for Riku and made his resolution halter just a little, but it was the truth nevertheless. He knew that if he wanted to protect the others he would have to grow merciless. There was no other way.

"Are you really sure you understand what killing does to you? You're still just a kid. I doubt you've ever ended another person's life." At Riku's silence, the soldier smiled slightly again before continuing. "I thought so. But don't worry. I'm not about to give away the people who've helped me. After all, if it wasn't for you guys, I'd be nothing but another corpse on the beach by now."

"Glad we understand each other," Riku stated before pushing himself off the wall. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have food to gather."


	2. Dance of the Daring

A/N: I'm busy, busy with exams lately, but I somehow managed to write the next chapter anyway. Hope you'll all like it~

So now Riku is slowly getting to know the soldier Leon while secretly preparing to steal supplies from the military base. I really enjoyed writing their conversations. They're both men who knows fighting, though Leon is quite a lot more used to it than Riku is. But that could quickly change...

Oh, and guess who will be appearing in the next chapter~?

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**Chapter 2: Dance of the Daring**

The next week or so Riku left it to Sora and Kairi to take care of the soldier. He figured the guy - injured and without his weapons – would not pose much of a threat even if he should decide not to keep his word about not telling anyone of their presence and location on the island and try to run for it. Besides, it wasn't as if Sora was incapable of fighting someone, he just wasn't as good as Riku. They had often tried their strength against each other, but not once had the brunette won and Riku had to admit he really liked being the best. He _was_ the oldest, after all. Anything else than the usual outcome would have been embarrassing to even imagine.

Thinking about the fights he and Sora used to have made him smile but he quickly pushed away the memories of the past. This was not the time for reminiscing; if he ever wanted to figure out where the soldiers kept their supplies he would have to focus and really pay attention to details. So far he had only seen armed groups _leaving_ the factory, there had not been any entering it. He had hoped someone would show up from the outside, maybe even from the main land or wherever the military got their food from, but apparently luck was not with him. Sighing, he brushed away a strand of silver white hair and changed his focus to another entrance.

His stomach growled, reminding him of the hunger it was feeling. Riku had sneaked out before Kairi had the chance to force anything in him, still not wanting to exchange a full stomach for theirs being empty. He could not quite find it in him to believe it when she told him she and Sora would be fine eating a little less, he knew she only said it because she was worried about him.

But of course, if he succeeded in his current task they would not have to worry about going hungry for a while. The military was keeping a lot of men on the island so they had to have quite a lot of supplies stuffed up as well as they obviously could not leave the men to work on an empty stomach; Riku highly doubted the moral of the soldiers would be high enough to accept such conditions.

He could of course ask Leon, yet he did not want to. When Riku got back from another supply hunt the day before, he had found Sora talking to the man. His friend had been asking questions, about the life of a soldier, the missions, and why the government had sent their men to aid the oppressing soldiers in the first place. The answers he had gotten from Leon had made sense, but not enough for Riku to really understand what was going on. But the things he himself wanted to know – why the island was still crawling with soldiers, and, first and foremost, Leon's reason for fighting – was something he seemed unable to say out loud. So he kept it to himself and wondered in silence. There had to be something more going on than what they knew about. After all, there were no resistance or rebel groups of any kind on Destiny Islands. So how come they still heard explosions and the sound of gunfire daily? Were the dead soldiers he had sometimes seen on the beach when he had risked getting closer to the harbor not from the oppressing army? What was it the government – what was left of it, anyway – had never told the people of the country? Was there a secret so terrible it had to be concealed no matter what the price? Or was the situation something completely different than what his vague guesses pointed at?

A movement close by caught Riku's attention and instantly made him grab the handle of the knife that used to belong to the soldier. Riku had thought it a good idea to bring it with him on his scouting missions should the unfortunate situation of him being discovered occur but so far he had not had any need for it, and this time what he had noticed was merely a squirrel climbing its tree. He sighed and let go of the weapon again. Maybe he should just give up for today and go home; nothing was going to happen anyway and the others would start worrying if he stayed out any longer. He did not want to risk them going to look for him so he got up, grimaced a little as his muscles protested from having stayed in the same position for hours, then slowly made his way back through the forest, his awareness still on its highest until he finally had the cave in sight. He smiled a little as he pulled out the rope and started climbing, quickly and efficiently reaching the top. It definitely wasn't practice he missed.

When he entered the cave the first thing he saw was Leon. The man was looking better and better for each day that passed, food and their care having had the best healing effect on him, though Riku had to admit he was still impressed by the speed of his recovery. Plus, the soldier had turned out to be quite the decent guy. There was no trace at all of the hostility Riku had first expected, and he also seemed really relaxed for a killer, once again making Riku wonder what his reason for fighting could be. Why would you ever choose to fight in a war where you had to kill civilians for the sake of someone else's plans and honor? What sense could that ever make? But he never dared to ask so he knew he would never get an answer.

Hearing the quiet footsteps on stone, Leon looked up.

"Hey." Somewhere in that one word lay a 'welcome back', Riku had realized a while ago. "Sora and Kairi's in the back, preparing something for you to eat."

"I keep telling them I don't need it," Riku sighed as he sat down on the floor. "I'm finding stuff to eat when I'm out."

"No, you're not." The soldier's reply caught Riku by surprise and as he lifted his gaze to meet Leon's, he found that the man was watching him with inscrutable eyes.

"How do you know?" Riku asked, taking a quick look around to make sure his friends was not there to hear this. If they did, they would start seeing it as _their_ duty to take care of _him_ instead of the other way around and he could not let that happen. He didn't want to be taken care of.

"Because if you _did_ find something, you would bring it right back here without touching any of it yourself," Leon said. And as he slowly stood, he continued: "Come on. I want to teach you something, as a thanks for saving my life."

Riku eyed him doubtfully.

"Are you sure you should be walking around yet?"

His question made the man laugh.

"Yeah, I think I'm fit enough for that," he replied. "We'll need to go down to the beach, though. Think you can survive lending me a hand?"

Riku could not help a smirk from spreading on his face.

"Sure. If you're still _that _weak…"

"Hey, I was severely injured, remember? Go easy on me."

The sun was setting, a soft light making the sand glow almost like a fine sort of gold. Riku had always loved this scenery, though he would never admit it. A boy was not supposed to sit on the beach for hours just staring at the beauty around him. Well, he had never been here for hours exactly, except for the times he had spent talking with Sora and Kairi, planning their future travel across the sea to other places, other countries. That time seemed so far away now and he could not help but miss it. Where had all the simple joy of life gone to? It was as if everything he did these days was worry about how to get them all through the next.

Shaking away the sudden nostalgia he looked at Leon. The soldier had picked up a piece of wood, weighing it in his hand. Riku barely had time to wonder what he was going to use it for before he had to duck, the plankflying past his head, only barely missing it with a few centimeters. Glaring at the man he straightened, trying to put as much authority into his attitude as possible in an attempt to not seem surprised.

"What was that for?"

"Testing your reflexes," was the reply he got. "Don't worry; I wouldn't have thrown it if I didn't think you'd be able to dodge it."

"And why exactly did you have to test me?"

"Because I know you're a fighter." Leon met his rebellious gaze with calm grayish eyes. "You want to protect your friends no matter what the cost, right? I'll teach you a few techniques from military training. It might come in handy later on, should you be discovered."

It was more of an offer than a statement, and Riku had to consider it for a while. Even though he did not like the military he had to admit they knew how to handle themselves. That he had seen for himself more than once, even up pretty close. It had been shortly after the destruction of the mall; he had been out to check up on the situation and had dared entering the city. Hiding behind the ruins of what used to be a house he had seen a combat situation. At that time he had not been able to figure out who was the enemy, had not even been conscious of the different uniforms they must have been wearing – because if they were not from two different armies, why would they be fighting? Instead, it had been all he could do to stay hidden, covering his ears to protect them from the roars of the gunfire. When it was finally over and he'd thought it safe to leave his spot all that had remained was bodies, bloody and still, never moving again …

He had sworn he would never become part of them. But was learning their way to fight betraying his decision from back then? On the other hand, did that really matter? If it could help him protect his friends, why not take Leon up on the offer while it still stood? Knowing his enemy would, after all, definitely help him predict a possible attacker from the government's moves if he ever had to face one …

"Fine," he replied at last. "Let's get started."

"Good," Leon said, placing himself in a better position for the attacks he knew would be coming in a moment. "But first, let's see what you've got…"

o0o

"You know, you seem quite talented," Leon told him afterwards while they rested on the sand. It had gotten dark by now, the only thing lighting up the beach was the moon on the almost cloudless sky. "Should you ever change your opinion of the military I think you might even be able to make it to the elites."

"Yeah, well, I'm not planning on that," Riku replied, his voice turning cold. "I hate the military for what it did. And I hate the government for not resisting when the war began."

"Sometimes… a man has to make a decision that doesn't sit well with him, for the sake of protecting someone else." Leon's eyes were fixed upon something in the distance, maybe even in the past.

"I'm not sure I get what you're trying to say," Riku told him after a moment of silence. "What does that have to do with the government? Are you saying they didn't _want_ to surrender?"

"Maybe. I wouldn't know. I'm just a soldier, after all."

Riku scoffed.

"If they didn't, then they should have fought. Instead, they gave in like weaklings after the first threat. I'm never gonna forgive them for that."

"I never said you had to."

Once again silence fell, the tropical wind the only thing making a sound as it swept through the palm trees before lightly touching the sea that reached out for it with waves as fingers. Right when Riku was about to get up and suggest they got back to the cave Leon finally spoke again.

"I'll be leaving tomorrow."

He was going back to the military already? His wound had barely healed yet. Somehow, the thought made Riku sad. Even though it had only been such a short time he had already grown accustomed to the soldier's company, and – he had noticed – so had Sora and Kairi. It was as if having a grown-up there with them made everything seem more normal, almost as if they could be children again instead of having to carry the harsh burdens of adults while they were still so young. Riku, however, knew that was just lying to themselves. It would never be the truth no matter how much they wanted to believe it, they could never go back to the way things had been before. They were not that lucky so now they simply had to work with the chances they got and survive, only the three of them. He still had every intention of stealing supplies from the military; after all, didn't they owe him quite a lot from ruining his childhood home? Maybe, if he was lucky, tomorrow would be the day where he would find out where their storage was …

"Sure you'll be able to get back alright?"

"Yeah." Leon smiled slightly. "I recover pretty quickly. And I figured that since I'm able to actually move around now I should get going as soon as possible. I know you guys are barely getting by as it is and I don't much like being a burden."

Riku could follow that thought.

"Besides…" Leon continued before he got to reply, "… even a soldier like me has friends. I need to let them know I'm still alive."

"I'll go with you back to the base, then," Riku said, a strange sort of sympathy suddenly hitting him. "Else, you'll just end up a corpse in the forest instead of on the beach."

Leon laughed softly.

"Thanks, I guess. Though I'm pretty sure I'd be able to handle myself. Which reminds me…" He did not look at Riku when he finished the sentence, yet his voice sounded so relaxed, as if what they were talking about was nothing but a toy. "… are you planning on returning my gun any time soon?"

"Why?" Riku could feel himself tensing up though he was not quite sure why. It wasn't that he was afraid Leon would suddenly turn on them and shoot them or – even worse – force them to surrender to the government. Not at all. At least that was what he tried to convince himself but it seemed he had not quite succeeded in that task since part of him still wanted to refuse handing the weapon over. "It's not like the military will yell at you or something for having lost it in your situation, is it?"

"No," Leon replied. "But I would like to have it on me when I go back through woods, in case any enemies should show up."

"I said I'll take you there."

"Riku." This time Leon _did_ look at him, and Riku met his gaze defiantly.

"What?"

"I'm not gonna shoot you, nor Sora and Kairi. I _am _human, you know. I respect that you want to protect your friends, but I need to protect myself. That's why I'm asking." The soldier paused for a short while before adding: "You can keep the knife, though. I know you've been using it, and you'll probably need it more than I do, anyway."

Silently accepting that, Riku looked back up at the sky for a long while before he finally let out a reply.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

o0o

As Riku had expected, neither Sora nor Kairi were happy about the news, but Kairi accepted it when Riku told them he would be taking the soldier as far as the outskirts of the factory area, knowing her friend's ability to move around on the island without being caught would keep both of the guys safe until they reached their destination. Sora, however, did not feel the same way.

"Then I'll be going as well!" the brunette declared, making Riku open his mouth to protest. Leon was quicker, though, his face calm as he replied.

"But, Sora, if you both go with me, then who'll be taking care of Kairi?"

That made the boy hesitate, obviously trying to come up with some sort of idea that Riku knew would not present itself and he had to appreciate Leon's good thinking. The man probably knew the reason why Riku did not want Sora tagging along was because he was afraid of what would happen if the enemy sighted them. Riku was sure both he himself and Leon would be able to handle whatever came their way; he wasn't sure, however, of the younger boy, and he wanted to protect his friends no matter what. Sora had that same kind of resolve, and exactly because of his desire to protect, Sora would not be leaving Kairi on her own in the cave and Riku could go with Leon without worrying too much.

"Kairi needs you, Sora," Riku declared. "Besides, I'll be back soon."

Sighing, Sora saw his point and gave up.

"Fine. I'll stay," he told his friend. "But you better be careful!"

"Aren't I always?" Grinning, Riku ruffled the brunette's hair before heading towards the cave entrance. "Are we going, Leon?"

"Yeah." The soldier smiled slightly. "It was nice meeting you all. And Sora, remember those things I told you. I'm sure they'll be useful eventually."

Out of the corner of his eye Riku saw Sora nod with that usual big smile of his. Feeling a strange sort of comfort at that he turned and made his way down to the beach, letting go of the rope as his feet touched the soft ground. Leon was already halfway down as well, though the soldier's wound was obviously still bothering him, his pace quite a lot slower than Riku's had been. But he did not complain, and Riku had a feeling he never would, no matter how bad things got. Maybe that was just part of military training. Either that, or it was a personal trait of Leon's.

They made their way through the forest in silence, each pondering their own thoughts, yet fully aware of their surroundings. Both knew just one moment of carelessness could cost them their lives if enemy soldiers happened to be nearby. Luckily, no one showed, and they reached their destination without having to hide or fight at all. Letting out a silent breath of relief Riku stopped.

"So now you're home," he said with a dry voice.

A small smile spread on Leon's lips.

"That's not exactly what I would call it," he replied. "But close enough, I guess."

"Well, go down there, then. I'm sure they'll all be thrilled to see you."

"Probably."

Silence fell between the two. Then Leon slowly began making his way down the hillside towards what used to be the factory. Hesitating a little Riku watched him, considering once more the conversation they had on the beach the day before. Then he shook his head and made a decision.

"Leon!"

The man turned to address him but Riku did not give him time to reply.

"Catch!"

For a second, surprise showed in the other's face but it faded just as quickly as he reached out a hand and caught the gun thrown towards him. Raising an eyebrow, the soldier smiled slightly.

"I was wondering when you were gonna give it to me," he told Riku. "Seeing how you carried it with you from the cave."

So he had been seen through after all. It probably should not surprise him. After all, Leon must have been trained to notice hidden weapons, guns obviously included. It just meant he himself would have to get better at concealing those he brought with him so that if he ever got his hands on a gun again, Sora would not notice. He did not want to worry his friends by making the situation seem worse than it was. As long as Leon told no one about their presence on the island, the three of them had nothing to fear except being spotted by pure bad luck.

Instead of replying to the soldier's words, Riku turned around.

"Take care."

"You too."

The words brought a slight smile to his lips as he walked back into the forest. He did not go far, though. Hidden in the bushes he returned to the lookout he had been using the last week to once again look for the place the army stored their supplies. He could of course had asked Leon, but had he done so he had a feeling the soldier would somehow guess what he was up to, and he did not want anyone to know about his plan. Getting the supplies was his mission alone. He did not intend to get anybody else involved, especially not his friends.

As he reached his usual spot Riku froze. Something was different. The other days, the gate in the newly-built fence had been thoroughly closed and guarded. Today, however, a huge truck was parked there instead and he spotted a few soldiers walking to and from it with boxes possibly stuffed with food. His heart beating very fast all of a sudden, Riku knew this was it. This was the only chance he was gonna get and he had every intention of taking it because if he did not, all of his waiting and watching would have been in vain.

As silently as possible he covered the distance to the base, using every tree and bush on the way as a cover. If he was spotted, it would definitely be the end. The closer he got, the easier a target he would be for their guns and he was not sure he would be able to get away either should they decide to chase him because around here they most likely knew the area as well as he did, maybe even better. After all, he had not spent much time around the old factory. And on top of all that, the soldiers would call for back-up as soon as he tried to run. In other words, his only chance was not to be seen.

Feeling somewhat as if his heart had been stuck in his throat, he stopped when he reached the last couple of bushes closest to the entrance, holding his breath as he took in the situation. A lone soldier was still standing guard, but just one guy should be easy enough to deal with. Slowly picking up a stone from the ground, Riku took aim and threw it. A moment later, his target fell to the ground with a groan.

_Too easy._ Smiling for himself, confidence returning as he stepped over the unconscious guy, Riku went inside the military base. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone returned and saw the soldier lying on the ground and that meant he had to hurry. If only he could at least get a hold of some of their supplies and get out again unnoticed …

But where was he supposed to look first? He had thought it might have been possible to follow one of the men carrying boxes but they had vanished into thin air. Swearing at his own slowness he chose the first the best door, slipping inside quickly and closing it behind him before taking in the hallway in which he'd ended up. It was broad, with more than enough space for even a truck to pass through, yet there was no one in sight. Moving slowly towards the corner, Riku froze as voices reached him. Voices that were coming closer.

There was nowhere to hide, no time to turn back. All he could do was hope to overpower them before they killed him. But as the soldiers rounded the corner, he knew he could not win as four pairs of eyes instantly landed upon him. Taking out Leon's knife, Riku prepared himself for the fight. Even if he would not be able to beat them, he wasn't going down easily. They would see that they were dealing with someone who would never submit to their power.

"An intruder! Get him!" a broad-shouldered guy yelled. Not waiting for them to bring out their guns, Riku rushed towards them, aiming for the closest soldier's side. He could feel how the knife tore deeply into the flesh of the man who let out a small cry in surprise and pain. Spinning around, Riku only barely evaded a couple of hands trying to grab a hold of him and landed a hit to another guy's thigh. Smiling slightly as the adrenalin of the battle rose in him, he ducked at the last moment to aim a kick at the third opponent's leg in an attempt to make him fall.

He succeeded, but wasn't quick enough to avoid the next attack, and a sharp pain ran through his arm as a blade tore open his skin. Swearing, Riku spun around and met the knife, the weapons locking. Knowing he had no chance of winning in a contest of strength, he desperately tried to move back but found the way blocked by a guy who grabbed his aching arm and pulled, making Riku stumble. The armed guy took advantage of this and managed to push the knife out of Riku's hand.

"Surrender, kid. You can't win this, whoever you are," the soldier holding him declared, his voice very grave.

Riku scoffed and threw himself backwards with all of his power, causing his opponent to stumble this time and loosen his grip on Riku's arm. Taking this chance, he wriggled lose and turned to land a hit at the guy before he could get up.

He did not succeed, however, as something hit him hard on the head and everything went black.


	3. Those Who Fight

A/N: Third chapter! And finally, the second main character is introduced. Please give a warm welcome to Cloud Strife~

When you think about it, Riku and Cloud are quite similar in many ways. Throughout their stories they've both dealt with some kind of darkness, and overcome it. I really find the prospect of this very interesting and may (definitely) bring it up later on. Trust me, I have lots of ideas and a plot that has only just been introduced. This story will most likely be quite long. I'm thinking I'll explore the whole concept of darkness, the friendship between Riku and Sora (yes, he's going to show up again eventually), and the CloudXTifa relationship (which I adore).

By the way, I decided this story should probably be labelled as Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy VII instead of only KH. It's not gonna change the story; it just means that I'll be adding in some FFVII characters that does not appear in KH, simply because I'm gonna miss them else wise. Hope you don't mind, since it's an alternate universe anyway. ^-^

I'd still really like to know what you think of it so far. Please review~

* * *

**Chapter 3: Those Who Fight**

When Riku slowly regained consciousness the first thing he felt was confusion. What happened? Where was he? And why did his arm – and his head, for that matter – hurt like hell? Trying to move his hands, he realized they were tied firmly behind his back. For a moment longer, he had to think hard to recall the events that had led to this. But then everything suddenly came back to him. That's right. He had sneaked into the military base. Well, at least he had managed to deliver quite a few blows before he had been overpowered. Smirking slightly at the thought, he finally opened his eyes…

… and was met by a stare from a white-coated man with long, black hair tied into a ponytail, and even though the man was wearing glasses his gaze was piercing, making Riku slightly uncomfortable. It was as if the look he got promised bad things for him. Then again, he had known it would be trouble if he was discovered on the base, and fact was that he had been. He was in the military's power now.

But even if that was the case, he wasn't about to give them what they wanted as that would be endangering Sora and Kairi. Whatever information these people thought they could get from him, he was not gonna spill. He would rather die than cooperate with the government's bastards, that was for sure.

The strange man must have read something in Riku's rebellious eyes because he laughed, a laughter that made a shiver go down Riku's spine.

"You're going to be such an interesting test subject!" the guy declared, rubbing his hands in expectation.

Test subject? They were going to use him for experiments? Riku's body went cold, yet he somehow managed to conceal his horrified stare. Being scared was stupid. He had made this decision, now he had to take the consequences. Besides, no matter what they did to him, he would still kick their asses when he got the chance. Promising himself that, he was about to reply with an obnoxious remark when another voice sounded.

"I'm sorry, professor, but you'll have to wait for a bit."

It was not until then Riku noticed that one of the soldiers from before was standing by the wall. Shit. Had they really hit him that hard? He should have sensed the guy right away! Riku's self-blaming was cut off, however, as he heard the man's next words.

"We have orders to interrogate him first, since he might be part of the rebels."

Rebels? Riku could not help another smirk from spreading on his face. So there _was_ someone fighting the oppression after all. That was definitely good news.

Unfortunately, the soldier noticed his grin.

"What, you happy you got in here?" he asked, walking closer until he was standing right in front of his prisoner. "Trust me, kiddo. It wasn't your luck that did it. Someone up there must have it in for you, 'cause you'll soon be wishing you had been killed in that bombing incident you guys were the cause of last week!"

"You trying to intimidate me or something by looking down at me like that?" Riku asked, tilting his head to meet the man's hard gaze. He was pretty sure they would not believe him if he told the truth anyway – that he had not broken in here to fight them, merely to steal their supplies – so he might as well screw with them a little before they killed him. "'Cause, you know, it's not working. If you wanna be a bad ass, you have a long way to go."

"Shut up!" The remark earned Riku a hit to the head that made the room spin for a second, yet he ignored it as best he could and just smirked even wider at the soldier.

"A long, _long_ way."

"You're really eager to get a beating, huh?" The soldier did not seem intimidated by Riku's confident glare, merely ticked-off. Well, the latter _had_ been his intention anyway so it seemed to be working. Since he was going to die soon this would be the only fun he could get. The pain was nothing; he didn't mind it as long as it helped him stay awake. There was no way he would be fainting as long as he was still able to put up an attitude.

Somewhere behind the cold metal chair he sat in, the black-haired professor laughed softly again, as if this whole scenario made for enormous entertainment. Sick bastard.

"If it's from you, I somehow doubt it'll hurt," Riku spat back at the soldier.

"Oh yeah?" The man was starting to fume. "Try this, then!"

Though realizing the man was going for his stomach, there was nothing Riku could do to prevent the hit, and he took it as best he could, only letting a small sound of pain slip past his lips. Fighting to keep himself from showing how much it actually hurt he looked up again, silver hair falling into his face and nearly covering his teal eyes.

"I could… barely feel it…"

"Then I guess I should give you another one, to make sure you get the message this time." The soldier's smile was grim, and Riku bit his lip to brace himself for the next hit, only regretting his own words for a split-second. This just proved him right. Soldiers liked seeing others in pain, they liked control. Leon had to be the only exception, the only human being in this whole base, and one person was not enough to save Riku now. Especially when he doubted the man even knew he was here in the first place, and considering the soldier was probably in a hospital bed by now, a rescue was even less likely.

Not breaking eye contact with the guy who was about to beat him up, Riku steeled himself one last time as the soldier formed his hand into a fist …

"Oh man, it seems you military people really don't have a flair for anything but violence," an unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded, breaking the moment and making the soldier spin around to face the new-comer. Riku's eyes darted towards him as well.

"You!" the soldier exclaimed. "What are the Turks doing here?"

"Escorting the old guy." Nodding towards the professor the stranger took another step forward, letting himself further into the room. His red hair was tied in a loose pony-tail, a pair of goggles holding back most of the remaining wild strains. Though wearing a suit the guy looked very casual, the jacket and shirt slightly open, yet there was something about him that told Riku the man was not to be messed with.

"And it seems I got lucky," he continued. "If that kid's really a rebel, the task of interrogating him should go to a Turk. That, of course, means me."

The soldier's eyes narrowed.

"And who approved this?"

"Do you even need to ask?" The red-head shrugged. "I got permission from the President, that's who. He wants me to escort our guest here back to Midgar. After I make him spill whatever info he's got, that is."

"Reno, you bastard." The soldier sighed. "You just want all the fun for yourself. But very well, if it's an order, I'll let you have him. Just tell us if he's causing you any trouble."

"I doubt that'll be the case," was the reply. "But fine, whatever. Now scram. I'm working."

As the soldier took off, closing the door firmly behind him, the Turk turned his attention to Riku who watched him with vary eyes. He did not know what to expect from the red-head; he could be anything from a scientist to a top-class fighter. Either way, one thing was for certain: this guy had to be ranking high if he got his orders from the President himself.

Placing himself in front of the prisoner, Reno put both hands in his pockets and met Riku's gaze.

"So, kiddo, what's your name?"

"As if I'd ever tell a government slave like you," Riku replied, spitting on the floor in front of him to show his disgust. "It's not like it's gonna make any difference anyway. You're going to kill me, so why not just get it over with?"

"Perceptive, aren't you?" A small smirk spread across the Turk's lips. "But you know what? You're not gonna die quite yet. I need you to give me a bit of information beforehand. Like the location of the rebel headquarters."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think we both know that you do." As Reno moved closer, he took out one hand, placing it on Riku's shoulder. "And it really would be in your favor to tell me before I lose my patience."

"Forget it."

Without even a second of hesitation, Reno pushed Riku and the chair backwards, kicking it as it fell.

"Oops. Patience lost."

Hitting the floor hard, Riku blacked out for a second, his already spinning head getting him closer to unconsciousness. But even so, he glared up at the Turk who still looked just as relaxed and arrogant as before. It was as if he had not moved even a muscle in his face.

"Now, last chance before I start using brute force: Where is your headquarters?"

"I told you I don't know!"

"And I told you that answer is no good," Reno said, moving over to stand next to him. Taking in Riku's appearance, once more a smirk formed on the red-head's face as his eyes landed on the injury to the boy's arm. "You know, kiddo, you should've taken the chance to tell me. Now, this is gonna hurt a bit." And with that, he stamped down on Riku's arm, a yell coming from his unwilling lips as pain shot through his body, and this time he was barely able to stay conscious. On the brink of consciousness, he heard Reno's voice again.

"Oh, come on, don't faint on me. We're not done yet, yo."

o0o

Riku was not sure exactly how much time had passed the next time he woke up, but the sight of Reno still in the room made him feel certain it could have been no more than an hour. The Turk obviously had not noticed him regaining consciousness, and Riku would happily let him stay the believe that he was still out. That would give him a break. It seemed his first impression of Reno – that the man was not to be messed with – was correct, and even though Riku knew he himself could withstand a lot it was not as if he liked the pain. Obviously, he would much rather have been without it. Actually, what he wished for the most right now was being back in the cave with Sora and Kairi, and – preferably – the supplies from a successful break-in. If _that_ wasn't a possibility, though, he would not mind being off the hook just for a short while.

Sora … How was he going to handle being the only one left to protect Kairi? Being the one responsible for their survival? Between the two of them, would they be able to survive without Riku being there? Worry for his friends overwhelmed him, but Riku firmly pushed it away. It was no need thinking about it. Right now, he had to focus. Maybe, if he could get his dizzy head to work, he would be able to figure out a way to escape after all.

Snorting silently at himself Riku dismissed the thought. What were the chances? Tied up, injured, and guarded by a crazy professor and a Turk, whatever that was. He was not going to give up trying, but he did not want to give himself false expectations either.

"I _said_ give it up, professor! You can't have him till we're done getting him to spill whatever information he's carrying! I've been ordered to bring him back to Midgar. The methods we've got there are quite a lot more effective than the shit this place's holding." Apparently, the red-head was continuing a conversation that had been going on while Riku had been out, and now he listened carefully to the Turk's words as Reno and the black-haired professor was discussing something. The man's reply to the Turk was hard to hear, seeing how the professor was almost mumbling, wriggling his hands with a very unsatisfied expression. Did this mean Riku would not be used as a test subject just yet? On the other hand, whatever was waiting for him if he did get taken to the country's capital would probably be more painful than what the professor had in store for him. Not exactly a happy thought.

He saw Reno sigh deeply and open his mouth to reply to whatever Hojo had been mumbling about when suddenly the sound of a crash coming from somewhere outside the room caused the Turk to forget the conversation. Riku could tell the guy was on his guard now so he could not have been expecting anything like that.

What felt like several minutes ticked by in silence, all three people in the room now staring at the door as if waiting for it to deliver an answer as to what was going on. Eventually, however, it was not the grey steel door who gave them that, but the man who came running, slamming it open.

"The rebels are attacking!" It was the soldier from earlier, the one who had been guarding Riku at first. He recognized the crude face, although a streak of blood was running down his cheek from a wound in his forehead.

"Shit! They must've heard about our visit here!" was the only thing Reno said before he darted out the door.

The soldier shifted his gaze towards Riku.

"You're hoping to get freed, aren't you? What with your little pals coming? But you know what? We're enough men here on this base to stop them before they get far so you might as well just start despairing now!"

Then he, too, went out of the room, probably intending to find the intruders. In spite of the man's words, Riku could feel just the slightest ounce of hope finding its way through his hurting body. Maybe, if it really was the rebels he had not known existed until today… Maybe then he would have a chance of getting out… If they found him here…

On the other hand, they did not even know he was a captive, and they knew even less who he was so what were the chances? Unless he happened to be close to something important to them, they would not… Wait. What had Reno said earlier? That the Turks were there to escort 'the old guy' – the professor. And that man was still here, in this room, with him. If the rebels really were after Hojo for some reason, then they _would_ be coming this way.

Aforementioned professor suddenly laughed, and Riku quickly turned his head to look at him. Hojo was once again wriggling his hands with an expectant smile on his lips.

"The rebels are here?" he grinned. "This should be interesting. _Very_ interesting."

Riku only had a moment to consider whether or not the man really _was_ as insane as he seemed before the sound of fighting came his way. Turning to face the door again, he would have crossed his fingers if his arm hadn't hurt that much. Right now, it was all he could do to stay alert, and even that was tough in the state he was in. Damn soldiers. Damn Turk. And damn his own weakness!

Then the door was slammed open, but this time it was not the soldier entering, neither was it the Turk returning. Instead, a young woman appeared. Long black hair framed a beautiful face with gentle eyes, but as her gaze fell on Hojo, they hardened. Riku had never seen her before, yet he knew she must be part of the rebels the soldiers seemed so keen on keeping away.

"Cloud!" she called. "In here! And they've got someone, too!"

She met Riku's teal eyes for a second before moving further into the room. Hojo was slowly backing away until he had his back against a small table filled with test tubes of every size, but it was not him the woman focused on. Keeping her distance from the professor for now, she moved to Riku.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

But he did not have time to reply before another person entered. This time it was a man, with blond hair and carrying a sword which size Riku had never seen anything like in his entire life. It was gigantic! Somehow, it was a wonder the guy could even carry it, but it seemed easy enough for him as he stepped in further.

"So it's true," he said. "You really _did_ come here, Hojo."

"I told you the information could be trusted," the woman told him. "Though why they left the Shinra Department to come here, I have no idea."

"Well, maybe we can get some answers. I'll take him, Tifa. You get that kid out of here." As the man held out his sword towards the professor, Tifa started working on the ropes holding Riku. She was efficient, yet she had only just managed to help him to his feet ("Can you walk?") before one more person came into the room. And this time, the face was – unfortunately – familiar.

"Cloud. " There was a coldness to Reno's tone as he looked at the blond man. "Should've known it was you."

"Reno." Turning just slightly to smirk at the man, Cloud shifted his hold on the sword so it would be easier to defend against a possible attack. "Sorry, but I really don't have time to stay. I'm only here to escort the professor to somewhere else."

"You think I'll just let you go?" The Turk's eyes glistened dangerously. "When I can get the chance to have some fun beating the crap out of you?"

"I think we've had this conversation before," Cloud replied. "Somehow, I don't recall you winning last time."

"That was last time. This is now." Without further hesitation he attacked. Reno was fast, but Cloud was faster. In a mere second, he had turned his sword from the professor to his opponent, and Riku was surprised at the level of the fight that emerged, yet he knew this was the best chance he would have of getting away.

Tifa seemed to agree.

"Let Cloud handle this," she declared. "I'll help you out of here."

Legs shaking only slightly from the strain he had put on his body by standing up, Riku allowed her to give him a hand getting out of the room. With Tifa supporting him they quickly made their way through the hallways of the base and towards what would hopefully be the exit. Before they got there, however, someone got in their way.

"Damn," Tifa mumbled as they turned a corner and found themselves face to face with a group of soldiers who did not seem very keen on letting them pass. Riku knew the situation was not good. Actually, 'not good' was quite an understatement; they were screwed. But he would not let them get him again without a fight. And the rebel beside him seemed to be of the same opinion, her stance shifting into an offensive one.

"Get down on the floor and put your hands behind your…"

Tifa had attacked before the soldier got to finish the sentence. Knocking the gun from him, she aimed another kick at his stomach, his side, and finally his head. This took her only a second and she turned towards the next. Apparently Tifa did not need a weapon. Her body was the only thing necessary for her to put up quite a fight, and she did so gracefully.

Riku wasn't about to let her handle it all, though. Besides, staying put would mean getting shot or knocked out in a matter of seconds. So he threw himself into the fight, delivering quite a few blows himself. Only there was one fatal thing he had failed to consider. His body had been put through a beating, and now it'd had enough. His legs gave in suddenly, and he felt himself falling towards the floor, cursing at the bad timing. Then, once again, he felt a hit to his head that made everything to black.

o0o

When Riku woke up he almost expected to be back in the steel-grey room with his hands tied and with company this time. However, as he opened his eyes slowly, the first thing he saw was a ceiling. One that definitely was neither grey nor made from metal like the factory's had been. Furthermore, his hands were not tied, and – he noticed – he was lying on something soft. A mattress. A bed?

Now opening his eyes completely he looked around the room, and what he saw made him certain they had gotten out of there. The furniture made it almost cozy to be in here, though it was very sparse. But one question took up more of his thoughts than the furnishing: Where was he?

Part of that question was answered as the door was opened and the woman from earlier stepped in. When she saw Riku half sitting up in the bed her beautiful face lightened up in a smile.

"You're awake?" she said, coming over to sit down next to him.

"Yeah…" Riku mumbled, rubbing his head. Damn, it hurt. Why did soldiers have to be so violent against their prisoners? "Where is this place?"

"It's our ship. We call it the Tiny Bronco," she replied. "We got you out of there. And don't worry, the army has long time lost our trail thanks to our very skilled pilot."

"We?" Even though Riku already had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be he felt he had to make certain his guess really _was _correct.

"The rebels." Yep. That was it. She continued, "I don't know why you were in there, but I guessed it must mean you're not exactly on friendly terms with the government, so I took the liberty of bringing you along. Your wound needed treatment as well."

It was not until then that Riku noticed a bandage had been carefully wrapped around his arm and realized it barely hurt anymore. Whatever had been done to it, it sure had been effective. It felt weird, somehow, being here, in this situation. For such a long time, he had been longing to be able to _do_ something, to fight… Now he had finally found someone else who seemed to think the same way. Yet staying here meant he would have to leave Sora and Kairi behind and…

Wait. Their _ship?_

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?" The woman tilted her head slightly, listening.

"Where are we going? You said we're on a ship, right? What's our destination?" He found himself almost holding his breath as he waited for the reply.

The rebel, as well, seemed to understand the answer might be of great importance to their guest.

"Hollow Bastion," she said after a moment of silence. "Our headquarters in the city of Midgar."

"Midgar …" He had never been there, but he knew it was the capital of the country. A huge town where the roofs of the houses were said to be almost touching the sky and standing so close only narrow alleyways allowed a person to pass from one district to another. The only times he had seen the place was when his parents had been watching the news, trying to stay in touch with the rest of the world even though they were living so very isolated on the island. Now and then Riku had joined them, sitting in front of the couch and silently trying to store all the so very different impressions in his mind, thinking they might help him later if he choose to go travelling in the future.

The woman stood, probably deciding it might be better to leave him alone with his thoughts.

"I'm Tifa," she introduced herself. "What can I call you, stranger?"

There was a smile in her eyes, he noticed. He remembered Sora having that same smile. As if no matter what happened, he would still believe in the goodness of people. Instantly taking a liking to the young woman, Riku knew there was no danger in letting her know his name.

"I'm Riku. And… thanks for saving me." It was hard to get that out. He hated realizing he'd ever _needed_ to be saved. That just wasn't his style.

"You're welcome." As she crossed the room and reached the door, she turned to look at him once more. "Maybe when you're better you can tell me what happened to you?"

"Yeah …" Well, he would have to at some point if he wanted to fight with them, wouldn't he?

Sending him another smile she left the room.

o0o

Cloud was waiting for Tifa when she returned to the hallway, standing with his arms crossed as he watched her with eyes filled with half curiosity, half suspicion. He knew it may not be legitimate as her judgment of people was usually flawless, yet he could not help but object just a little to them bringing the kid along. After all, whoever he was, he had been in the same room as Hojo. Okay, granted, that could have meant exactly what Tifa had suggested when they first argued about it – that the government had some kind of grudge on the kid, or maybe that he had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time – but Cloud had his reasons to distrust anyone who had ever been near Hojo without losing their mind. After all, he knew what kind of creep the professor was. He had experienced it first-hand.

"So?" he asked as Tifa closed the door behind her.

She sighed.

"It's too early, Cloud," she told him. "He's just been through a very tough experience. I couldn't start asking him questions before he's had a little time to recover."

"He's had plenty of time," Cloud declared. "It's been hours."

She sent him a gaze so very piercing he instantly felt ashamed. That was just an ability Tifa had. Ever since they were kids she had always been able to make him think twice about what he had said.

"I didn't start asking _you_ questions either when you returned, did I?"

"That was different!" he exclaimed. "You _knew_ me. We don't know anything about the guy. Think about it, he could just as easily be a spy who'd been placed there so that we would bring him along!"

"I don't think so," she said. "He's just a kid who's had it rough. Give him some space."

Holding back a sigh, Cloud did not reply. It wasn't that he did not want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, but if he _did_ take that chance and it turned out that had been a bad choice, it could lead to a disaster. Hell, if the government ever found them, their little rebel group would be wiped out in seconds. He did not want to risk that. There was too much at stake for AVALANCHE.

Tifa seemed to understand he still did not like what she was saying, but also knew he was silently accepting it for now. Walking past him towards the wheelhouse she hesitated for a moment and stopped. Cloud could tell she had something more on her mind and looked up, only to find that she could not meet his eyes. Her gaze was lowered to the ground and he knew that look on her face. The sadness of it stroke him harder than anything.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like it," she told him. "But… I just couldn't leave him like that. Couldn't let the government have its way with him. It's enough that we lost Aerith to them; I can't bear anyone else suffering, even if it's someone I don't know."

"Tifa…" He wanted to say something, wanted to ease her pain somehow. But once again, he found himself out of words. Because he had been the one to let it happen. He had been the one who could not protect Aerith. And it wasn't just Aerith… But Tifa did not know about Zack. Sometimes, Cloud doubted if he would ever be able to really protect the ones he cared about. The ones who made his life worth living.

The silence stretched on. Eventually, Tifa left the hallway. They both knew that for now there was nothing more that could be said.


	4. Hollow Bastion

A/N: So, exams are finally over, and I finished another chapter!

I was a bit uncertain of how to write the language Barret and Cid is using, since I remember from FFVII that they are using slang-like words quite often. In the end, since I'm not good at that, I decided to keep it simple. There _will _be swearing, though, since that's also one of their shared original characteristics.

Having been rescued by the rebel group AVALANCHE, Riku now embarks on a journey he had never imagined would happen. However, not everyone trust him as easily as the kind Tifa. Cloud, for instance, has his doubts concerning their new member, yet a conversation with Riku may help him change his mind and once again trust Tifa's instincts on people.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Hollow Bastion**

It did not feel like much time had passed for Riku when someone else entered the room. He had been caught up in thoughts, but as soon as he heard the slight creaking, he sat up instantly to see who it was. Expecting it to be Tifa who returned he was surprised to find another person now closing the door, then turning to face him. The man was familiar; Riku remembered the face and the spiky hair from their short encounter at the military base. It was the other rebel who had saved him.

Wondering what he wanted, Riku meet his blue eyes in which a stream of green seemed to shine as well and was surprised to find a rather skeptical look there. The slight suspicion of it made Riku alert, and for a long moment they just looked at each other, the silver-haired boy on the bed and the blond man who was now leaning against the wall. Then the rebel spoke up.

"So you were at the base."

"Yes." Riku was not sure where he was going with that statement, but nevertheless prepared himself for anything.

"And you met professor Hojo."

"The guy in the lab coat? Yeah."

"Who just happened to be in the same room as you. The room they knew we'd be going to."

"What do you mean by that?" Was the man suspicious of him?

"I'm just saying it's a strange coincidence." Riku could feel how the blue eyes bore into his own, yet he did not – would not – look away. Whatever this guy was thinking, he was definitely miles off. "One could think the military had planted you there, by order of the government."

Ah. So that was it. He was being accused of being a spy.

"I don't think I like what you're suggesting," Riku replied coldly. "You're saying I should be cooperating with the ones who destroyed my home town and killed the villagers? I'd never let myself sink that low!"

He stopped himself from spitting on the floor to show his disgust. The government had ruined everything for him, Sora, and Kairi by giving in that easily, leaving Destiny Islands to be the first place under military rule, and Riku would rather die than ever surrender to those bastards.

It seemed the man saw something in his gaze that made him change his mind because a shadow of a smile showed on his lips as he nodded and asked:

"What's your name?"

"I'm Riku."

"Do you want to fight the government, Riku?"

Somehow, he had been waiting for that question. After Tifa had left the room, his thoughts had been occupied by the strange coincidence of the rebels attacking the base at the very same day he had decided to finally break in there. The wish he had long had, the longing to get away from the islands, to get the chance to do something else than hide all the time… Maybe someone up there had heard his voice. Maybe that was why he had been given this possibility. Or maybe it was his destiny to fight for the freedom of his country. Either way, he was grateful for it. It was his turn to act now.

"I do," he replied calmly. "I hate the government more than anything. I want to bring them down and give them what they deserve."

"I guess we feel the same way, then." The man finally pushed off from the wall and walked over to Riku, holding out his hand for Riku to take it. He did. "My name's Cloud."

"I know," Riku said. "I remember the redhead calling you that back at the military base."

"Ah. Reno." Cloud grimaced. "He's a real pain in the ass. I don't mind teaching him a lesson, but it's a bit more troublesome when his partner shows up as well. They're quite strong."

"Who are they?" Now that it seemed Cloud had accepted him, Riku figured he might as well try and get as much information out of him about their enemies as possible. After all, he himself did not know much because he had never really paid much attention to the politics of the main island before the attack, only catching bits and pieces on the news. Even in school they had not been taught much about the workings of those in power. Apparently, their teachers had thought something like math and old, boring books a lot more important.

"The Turks," Cloud replied. "They're a special task force that's under the direct command of President Rufus Shinra. Basically, the Turks are the ones doing all the dirty work too secret or difficult for the military or the police to handle. Better watch out for them. Luckily, they're easily recognizable from their black suits."

"I'll be sure to remember that," Riku declared. "They were there escorting that professor guy, right? I heard them talk about it."

"That's true. What else did they say?" Cloud wanted to know.

"Only that the Turk wouldn't let Hojo have me until he'd finished interrogating me," Riku explained. "They'd be taking me back to Midgar. Apparently, they thought I was a rebel."

The corner of Cloud's mouth lifted just the slightest.

"So that's why. You better not tell Tifa that. She'll most likely feel guilty about it."

"Why?" Riku's brows furrowed. "It's not her fault the government's people are all a bunch of asses."

His words made the rebel laugh.

"True," he replied as he pushed himself off the wall again. "Anyway, get ready. We've almost reached the main island. We'll go by car from there. We don't want to risk running into the Turks in the public transportation. That happened once before."

Then, before Riku had a chance to say any more, Cloud left. Leaning back against the wall, Riku suddenly felt a jolt of excitement go through him once again. He would soon be setting foot on a place where he had never been before in his life. Somehow, this felt like the first step of a very long journey. One he had been planning for years, though he had never known where it would lead him.

Not the type to just sit around waiting, Riku got up from the bed. He grimaced as his sore muscles protested, but nevertheless managed to get them to move. It wasn't that bad. Actually, he realized, at this point only his arm still hurt a little; at least that was progress. And it was all thanks to the rebels. Smiling slightly, he opened the door.

What he found behind it was a narrow hallway. He remembered once when Sora's father had rented one of the bigger boats and taken Riku, Sora, and Kairi with him on a trip around the islands. Below deck there had been cabins positioned on each side of a small hallway just like this one, with only enough space for one person to walk through. It was almost weird finding a similar scenario now. Somehow it reminded him that even though it may not seem like it, he was not that far from everything he knew after all. Intent on finding the wheelhouse, Riku made his way towards another door at the far end, but he had barely reached it before someone threw it open, and he only just managed to not get caught between the hard wood and the wall.

The person responsible was a big man, with muscles like the boxers on television. His skin was dark, his hair even darker, and he had a beard, giving the impression that he was a tough guy. The other thing proving that fact, though, was the giant gun-like machine that had replaced his right hand. Suddenly feeling incredibly small Riku backed, but he had not gone very far before the man noticed him.

"You! What are you doing here?"

"Um…" What was he supposed to say? 'Sorry, it's not that I'm snooping around?' Would the man believe him at all? After sensing Cloud's obvious suspicion when the blonde had first entered his room, Riku was wondering if his wandering around on his own wouldn't be seen as pretty suspicious.

However, before he had a chance to explain himself, a voice that seemed well-known by now sounded, making Riku breathe a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong, Barret? You're yelling so loudly Cid lost his focus for a second."

It was Tifa, and as she entered the hallway, the big guy turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed.

"Thought we agreed that kid's your responsibility, Tifa," he said, "an' now he's sneakin' around!"

"I wasn't sneaking!" Riku defended himself, meeting the guy's sudden stare with cold eyes.

"Then what the hell are you doing out of your cabin? Looking for any treasures to steal, eh?"

"I'm not a thief!" Which was sort of true; the only ones he had ever stolen from were the soldiers on Destiny Islands. "I just wanted to stretch my legs, that's all!"

"Oh yeah? Imma not sure I believe you, kid! You could be…"

"Barret, that's enough!" Tifa cut in, sounding more than slightly annoyed. "What's with you, anyway? Stop accusing him for things you've got no proof of! We're bringing him with us to Hollow Bastion, and that's final, so save your interrogation for now!"

Seemingly a little baffled by her sudden show of temper, Barret raised his hand and gun in an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry, Tifa," he said, his voice so low it was more like a mumbling. "I'll just go get that machine part Cid wanted. But keep an eye on our guest!"

"I will." She sighed. "Come on, Riku. We're reaching the main land in five minutes or so."

"I know," he replied. "Cloud just told me."

"Cloud did?" For a short moment, confusion – and something else he could not quite identify – showed on her face. But then it was gone, and a gentle smile formed on her lips. "Never mind. I'll show you the wheelhouse; you can see the skyscrapers of Midgar from there."

"Really?" Trying to conceal his excitement at that, he followed, feeling Barret's glare on his back as they left through the door taking them to a small area of wooden floor.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Even though I know it's the base of Shinra's evildoing, it still makes me feel like I'm almost home," Tifa told him. For a moment, her eyes glazed over, as if memories of the past came back to her. Then she sighed. "Look, don't mind Barret. He's just… a bit overprotective. We have so much to lose should Shinra ever discover where we're hiding so that's why he was acting like a jerk. He's a very gentle soul, really, once you manage to get behind his façade."

"Sure …" was Riku's skeptic reply. They would see about that, he thought, again following as Tifa went to the next door and opened it.

"Cid?" she asked. "How's it going?"

"Gotten past tha reefs," a reply sounded from a middle-aged man sitting in a chair at the front. "Rest is child's play."

_So this is the wheelhouse,_ Riku thought as he looked around. The room was amazing, nothing like the small ones he had seen before when he had gone sailing with his parents. It was almost as if someone had exchanged the usual compass and instruments with a giant computer, the screens shining with numbers and graphs as the ship strode through the water visible from the window in front of them. And where the water ended…

Tall buildings reached toward the sky, their many windows lighting up the beginning darkness of the evening. Among them, broad buildings let out steam and he could easily imagine the noise they were making if up close, but from here everything was quiet but the motor of the ship. It seemed as if the town went on forever, as if it was a whole country itself. Furthermore, it had layers. Above the houses on the ground, a circular plate held even taller buildings. It was amazing. He had never seen anything like it.

The blond pilot noticed his glare and, taking out a cigarette, he asked:

"What's wrong, kid? You stare like it's your first time seeing Midgar."

"It is," he replied. "The islands have been the only world I've known. Until now."

"Well, if you've really never been to Midgar before, better prepare yourself for surprises," the pilot stated. "One thing I can assure you, though…" He took a drag of the cigarette, "… you'll see no vessel finer than the one you're on now."

"Cid's done some incredible work on this ship," Tifa added with a smile.

"Damn straight," declared the man. "Now where tha hell's Barret gone? I need to get the compass fixed for next time!"

Honestly, Riku could not care less about where the big guy was. Watching as the main land drew closer and closer, a feeling of excitement in his stomach also grew, and he couldn't wait to get off the ship.

o0o

Barret returned a couple of minutes later, and Cloud joined the group as they got off the ship, heading towards the usual cave to get the car; it had been the best hiding place they could find, and so far, no one had discovered it. But of course, no one knew this was where they docked. Cloud could feel Tifa's gaze on him as they drove through the wasteland, but eventually she turned it to their surroundings, aware that enemies may come out of nowhere. After all, the ground around Midgar was inhabited only by monsters that did not mind attacking straying humans who entered their territories. The group had dealt with some before, and though the monsters were not that strong, it always slowed them down and made enough noise to possibly alarm other nearby enemies.

Riku stayed quiet throughout the ride, Cloud noticed. Maybe Tifa had filled him in on the whole monster situation. It was definitely a point in his favor that he knew better than to start with the questions or try to start up a happy conversation. Not that anyone would have replied much at the moment, though.

As they neared Midgar without any incidents, Cloud's mind slowly went from the wasteland around them to their failed mission. Hojo had been right there in front of them, yet the interruption of the Turks had in the end made it necessary to flee the place. It bothered him. He wanted to know the truth, the whole truth, about the government's plan and the experiments of the Shinra Department. By gaining access to a few secret files and through Cloud's past experience, they had obtained some information, yet none of it seemed very useful.

He sighed and let his eyes wander to the city of Midgar. Well, at least they were almost home now and he could relax just a little in Hollow Bastion. As they entered the city, Cid and Barret on the front seat, with the other three squeezed together in the back, Cloud saw Riku's eyes widen and could not help but smile faintly. Though the kid hid it well, it was pretty clear to Cloud that he was impressed by the capital of the country, and Cloud remembered the first time he himself arrived in Midgar a long time ago.

Evening had now fallen, yet the streets were nowhere near empty. As always, people roamed the streets, half of them out partying, the other half either sneakily robbing the drunken youngsters or begging for their money. The group made their way through the lower parts of the districts until they reached Sector 7 where at last Cid could park the car next to the worn-down two-storey house they all knew as home. Cloud got out, happy to get away from the too-cramped space of the backseat, and Tifa followed. As Riku joined them in front of the main door, she smiled.

"Welcome to Hollow Bastion," she said.

"Thanks," was Riku's only reply.

Barret huffed, having gotten out of the car with some trouble, and went past them. Seeing the disapproving look on his face, Cloud suddenly realized he had not been the only one to disagree with Tifa's choice of bringing the boy with them. However, the short conversation he'd had with Riku in the cabin had made him reconsider because there was something to the kid reminding Cloud of himself a little more than a year ago when he had first joined AVALANCHE.

But you could never be too careful. Cloud may not completely distrust Riku any longer, but he would still keep a close eye on him these first couple of weeks. Just to be sure nothing was up.

o0o

The house did not seem like much on the outside, and when Riku followed Tifa through what appeared to be the main door, he had to acknowledge that it did not look like much on the inside, either. There was nothing to the place that would suggest it was the headquarters of a rebel group. Then again, maybe that was the whole point; after all, it would be stupid putting up a big sign saying "We're rebels, come catch us" so the government would know exactly where to find them. He figured AVALANCHE was clever in choosing a place like this.

The hallway was narrow, with a staircase and a few doors which Tifa told him lead to a couple of bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room which they entered. It seemed cozy enough, and Riku could not help but wonder whether this house had once been some sort of inn because it sure had enough space for the rebel group, though as everyone had gone here, all seats were already occupied. And Riku noticed three unknown persons at the far corner.

"They're also members of AVALANCHE," Tifa told him, having seen the direction of his gaze. "Come, I'll introduce you."

So he followed as she managed to make her way in between the others, reaching the three.

"Welcome home, Tifa," a girl in her twenties said with a smile. "Cid mentioned you'd brought a kid with you. That must be you, I suppose?"

Her last words were directed at Riku, and he smiled lightly.

"That'd be correct," he replied. "I'm Riku."

"Jesse," she told him. "Those over there're Biggs and Wedge."

A guy with a bandana and another who - judging by his bodyweight - seemed to favor sweets nodded at him, the big guy Wedge adding a "Welcome" before both turned their attention back to a conversation they had going.

"Don't mind them," Jesse said. "They're just sorta caught up in their computer stuff. Seems they found something interesting while browsing the police database."

"The police database?" Riku raised an eyebrow. Were such things not supposed to be protected with passwords and stuff?

"I know what you're thinking, and no, it's not publicly accessible. But Wedge knows pretty well how to do hacking," Jesse grinned. "So do I, by the way. It's quite useful, really, especially when you want to stay up-to-date with how the police's investigation on us is going."

"Jesse and Wedge are our computer experts," Tifa explained.

Their conversation continued for a while until Tifa noticed how Riku was slowly starting to lose focus. It wasn't that he did not find the subject interesting – actually, hacking had always seemed appealing to him – but his body and mind was still exhausted from what he had been through although he hated to admit it. So Tifa showed him to a room on the first floor.

"This is yours from now on," she told him. "The bed linen is all clean, so don't worry about that. Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. We probably ought to take another look at your wound by then."

When she had left, Riku lay down on the bed, placing his hands behind his head and thinking. What was Sora and Kairi doing right now? They were probably worried about him, and Riku felt a sting of bad conscience hitting him. He had promised Sora he would be back soon, yet now he was not sure if he would ever _be_ able to return to Destiny Islands. Riku had to face the fact that he may never see his friends again …

The thought made his throat tighten so he quickly pushed it away. It had not been his choice to leave them, he reminded himself. Yes, it had been his own stupid idea to break into the army base, but being caught was due to bad luck. And now he was here, in Hollow Bastion, Midgar. Surely it must have been destiny leading his way. Then again, he had never believed in that stupid superstitious thing, yet it just seemed too weird to be a coincidence.

_Well, whatever it is, I can't the change the fact that I'm no longer on the island,_ he told himself firmly. _So there's really no point in worrying about it. Sora and Kairi will be fine; they're not stupid, they know how to protect each other. All I can do for them now is fight. Once we've defeated the government, we'll force the army to retreat. Then all three of us will have our islands to ourselves again. I'll make sure of that._

o0o

Silence fell. Tifa had just finished telling the others what had happened on Destiny Islands. Cloud noted the different looks on people's faces, and how all of them held one shared feeling somewhere in the mix: disappointment. They had not gotten to Hojo. He felt responsible, although he knew no one blamed him. That was one of the strange things about being around these people. They were more friends than colleagues working for the same goal.

"And the kid?" Biggs asked, voicing a question Cloud had expected to hear at some point. "Can we trust him?"

"He seems sincere enough," Jesse told him.

"Does he, or is that a façade?" Biggs countered.

"You could have just focused on him instead of your conversation with Wedge," she said flatly. "Then you'd see what I mean."

It was hard to believe the two of them were a couple, Cloud mused, since they argued all the time. They may share the same bed, but opinions were a different story.

"I think we oughta keep an eye on him!" Barret declared. "He could be dangerous, some sorta spy or somethin'. Can't risk nothing, you know!"

"He's just a kid!" Tifa argued. "He hates the government just as much as we do. You saw what they'd done to the islands; with soldiers all over it is it any wonder he was caught unaware? I'm sure he was trying to hide somewhere but didn't succeed, and that's all there is to it. Besides, none of you know how long he's been there. Won't you give him a chance? Or have all of you forgotten what this war was like for you in the beginning? None of you suspected the others of being spies, even though we didn't all know each other beforehand, so why do you have to give Riku such a hard time? And for him to be a spy that would mean the government knew we would attack, and it sure didn't seem that way when we got there!"

Biggs and Barret both started to argue, but Cloud thought it was about time to make his opinion heard. Else wise, this discussion would clearly go on all night.

"I agree with Tifa," he exclaimed, and all eyes turned to him. "The Turks weren't prepared for our little visit. Now, I also agree that safety should be our top priority, but that doesn't mean we have to distrust the kid. I, too, can tell he hates the government as much as we do, and he said he wants to fight. So we'll let him. That's my suggestion."

A mutter broke out. Cid took a draw on his cigarette (he had mercifully been allowed by Tifa to light one inside for once) and nodded slowly.

"It's also damn unlikely the government would use a youngster for a spy in a task as important as this," he said. "You all seem to have forgotten 'bout that. Being a spy takes years of training, and the lad's what, fifteen? Calm down and find your senses, people."

Cloud was grateful for the middle-aged man's calm and relaxed way of handling things. His words seemed to be the last straw to convince the others of Riku's innocence. The only one still scowling a little was Barret. Then again, the big man had distrusted Cloud for quite a long time as well until he finally proved his earnestness. Barret had clearly taken a disliking to the kid, and Riku would have a hard time convincing him he was sincere. But eventually, he might actually manage it. He seemed to have the guts it would take.

"Okay," Barret growled. "We'll let him stay. But it'll be your job," and he pointed to Tifa and Cloud, "to keep an eye on him nonetheless. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then let's get to bed," he continued, "coz I'm goddamn beat!"

And off they went, Cloud staying behind waiting for Tifa. He had a feeling she had something to say to him. When she stopped in front of him, hands on her hips, he knew he was right. She looked at him for a while before finally voicing what was more of a statement than a question.

"You went and talked to him. Even though I told you not to."

"Yeah, sorry about that." He grimaced. "But I felt like I had to make sure he really wasn't a danger."

"Are you convinced now that he's not?"

"Yes," he admitted. "There was something in his eyes ..."

He did not know how to explain it thoroughly, but she understood. Of course. She always understood without him having to say it out loud.

"I'm glad. Then I'll go to sleep. Goodnight, Cloud." Then, as she walked past him, she added, "You know, I really wish you'd trust _my_ judgment as well sometimes."

_I do_, he told her back silently. _I'm just unable to tell you how much._


	5. Town Where the Sunlight Doesn't Reach

A/N: First, I wanna say thank you to the people who've reviewed so far: CryingTearsOfBlood, anonymous Anon, Jediempress, and Mizuki hikari! You fill my heart with joy! I am so very delighted to know that you read and like my story!

On another note: Actually, I think fanfiction is a very subjective thing; how a character reacts is usually based on how you as an author view that person. Like in this case: rather than going back to find his friends, I believe Riku would choose to continue along his path alone in the hope of protecting them in this way. He knows that, being a part of a rebellion, he will eventually get blood-stained hands, and he wouldn't wish for Sora and Kairi's hands to be stained as well.

Well, enough of my rambling and on to what it's all about: the new chapter. The last bit may be a bit confusing due to all the information you (and Riku) are getting, but I hope it's okay. I'll remind you of some of it later on so don't worry if you feel like there're too much to remember~.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Town Where the Sunlight Doesn't Reach**

When he woke up next morning, it took a moment for Riku to realize he was not lying on a bed of moss in the cave on the island with only a thin blanket to keep out the cold. Instead, he was in a bed, with clean linen - something he had not experienced in a long time.

_So it really wasn't a dream,_ he mused as he sat up, taking in the room he was in. He had been too exhausted yesterday to really notice the paintings on the walls of flowers blooming. It was beautiful, he had to admit, though not to his liking at all. Kairi would probably have loved it here, though, seeing how she used to walk around gathering flowers before they'd had to run and hide. But if Riku had to stay here, he knew he would probably just have to get used to it. Painting the walls would be a bother and he did not want to risk offending Tifa by asking for another room when she had so kindly given him this one.

His clothes were lying on the chair where he had left it yesterday, and he had barely gotten dressed when a knock on the door sounded. He had no idea what time it was, although he suspected it to be fairly early seeing how getting up at sunrise had somewhat become a habit these past many months. Opening the door, he smiled slightly at the woman standing outside it. Tifa was carrying a tray that held both a plate of delicious-looking food and what appeared to be a first-aid kit.

"Can I come in?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure," he replied and held the door for her as she did so.

Placing the tray on the small table next to his bed, she turned to him and her expression turned into a frown as she noticed his clothes.

"I asked Cloud to find a new shirt for you," she told him. "It'll probably be a bit big, but I'm afraid the one you're wearing can't be saved. And even if it could, we'd still need to wash the blood off of it. In other words, I hope you're okay with throwing it out. Don't worry, we'll buy some new ones for you," she added as he was about to protest. "I know you'll probably not want to be wearing something of Cloud's all the time."

"Not if I can avoid it," he admitted, sitting down on the bed. The blonde's shirts would be way too big and make him look absolutely foolish. Riku did not like that thought, even though Tifa had a point; it would be better wearing something without dried blood on it. Looking down at where the wound on his arm was, he noticed how dirty the bandages had gotten from their little travel through the wasteland the evening before.

Seeing his gaze, Tifa smiled again.

"Yes, we'll have to change those," she said. "But I thought maybe you'd like something to eat first?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

She handed him the plate, and as he took it he felt his stomach rumble loudly. It seemed to agree with him that fried eggs and a bun with butter and cheese definitely was much better than mushrooms and the occasional fish. Taking a bite, he realized just how much he had missed food like this, though he also felt strangely guilty for eating it when Sora and Kairi could not.

"It's really good," he told Tifa.

"I'm glad," she replied. "When you're done, would you take off your shirt and let me check the wound?"

He finished quickly, and as she gently unwrapped the bandages, he turned his head slightly, trying to see how bad it looked. He was surprised to find that there was already a thin scab where the soldier's knife had hit. Raising an eyebrow, he remarked:

"I don't recall wounds normally healing that fast."

"You're right, they don't," she answered his hidden question. "I applied an ointment to it called Cure. It helps the body heal faster by speeding up the usual healing process. A friend of mine gave me the recipe, but the ingredients are really hard to get so we normally only use it on severe injuries."

"Oh." He took in this new information. So that sort of medicine existed as well, and as far as he could tell it was pretty damn effective. He'd have to remember that.

"Anyway, your arm will be fine soon," Tifa told him, bandaging it again. "And I was thinking… Jesse and I are going shopping later - there's some stuff we've almost run out of. Do you want to join us? You'll get to see more of the city than the insides of Hollow Bastion which, seeing how it's your first time in Midgar, may be nice. We'll show you the area."

Riku hesitated. Yes, he wanted to see more of Midgar than the dark streets they had driven through last night. However, going shopping with two women was not exactly his idea of a fun day. He would have to consider this carefully. He knew how women always ended up admiring clothes and jewelries for hours; he recalled with horror the trips with his mother and aunt to the old mall. Who said this would be any different?

On the other hand, he really _did _want to see Midgar. But did he want it badly enough to endure a female shopping trip?

o0o

In the end, the desire to learn more about the capital of the country surpassed the dread of staying in boring jewelry shops for hours listening to nothing but women's bickering. Wearing a shirt of Cloud's that was way too long and made him feel as if he was wearing a tent, Riku followed Tifa and Jesse through the streets of the city. The buildings in this part of town were not skyscrapers; in fact, most of them were small one- or two-storey houses that clearly needed some reconstruction to be livable. Yet people _did_ live here, and they did not seem to mind the occasional missing roof tile or leakywindow.

Midgar was divided into sectors, Tifa explained. Hollow Bastion was situated in what was normally referred to as Sector 7. It was said that a long time ago, the sectors had been small towns that melted together into a big city and at some point lost their individuality and names. The part of Sector 7 they were currently walking through led to the Sector 6 market, and on the other side of that was the Sector 5 slums where a beautiful church lay, though it was rarely visited anymore.

Riku listened to all of this, only asking a few questions, taking in the scenery with mixed feelings. He had always dreamed of traveling, of leaving Destiny Islands eventually and see the glories of their country. However, what he had hoped to find when reaching Midgar was something quite different from this. They had always been told that Midgar was the pride of Radiant Garden, the one city where everyone could fulfill their dreams. But instead of people living their dreams, what he saw was poor people living under rough conditions. It was not the wonder he had expected.

They reached the market where several houses were laying side by side, the owners of them out on the street, advertising for their stores and enthusiastically encouraging people to enter in the hope that they would become customers. Tifa and Jesse knew their way around, Riku had to admit, finding the cheapest stores and only buying what was necessary. They were definitely more sensible than most women he had known, and he had to admit he almost enjoyed the trip.

Carrying groceries and a stack of second-hand clothes, the three of them began to make their way back towards Sector 7, stopping now and then to take a look at some of the more artistic stores. Riku was admiring a map of the country when suddenly Tifa gently took a hold of his arm, tugging lightly.

"Come on." He noticed the sudden alarm in her voice and did not protest as she led him to an alley from which they would not be visible from the general market square. Curious as to what had set the two rebels on edge, Riku glanced out from their hiding place and felt his stomach tighten just slightly at the sight of two people dressed in black suits.

The fear quickly turned to hate, though, at the thought of Reno, but the redhead was not one of the black suits he could see. One was fairly tall, with long hair an even darker shade than Tifa's and a face that did not seem to express anything at all, as if this guy was seriousness incarnated. The other was a short-haired blond woman looking rather bored at the moment, but even from a distance Riku could sense the vigilance in her eyes.

"The Turks," Jesse muttered and swore. "Curse them, what are they doing here?"

"Probably patrolling," Tifa replied in a voice just as hushed.

"Who are those two?" Riku wanted to know, not taking his eyes off of them.

"His name is Tseng," Tifa said, "and he's the leader of the Turks. The woman is his partner, Elena. They usually work in fixed pairs, but they are seen to have been partnered differently when a mission called for it. The redhead from the base, Reno, is usually working with a man named Rude."

"How many Turks are there all in all?" he asked.

"Four." Jesse was the one to reply this time.

"That few?" Surprised, Riku turned his eyes to her and saw her grave expression.

"It may not seem that many, but they're strong," Tifa told him. "Of everyone in AVALANCHE, Cloud is the only one who can match them in strength."

"Yeah, the rest of us wouldn't last against a Turk in the long run," Jesse added bitterly. "Ergo the hiding. They know what we look like, and we don't want them spotting us here. It's too close to home."

Riku grasped the meaning behind her words. Too close to their headquarters. If the Turks were to find them here, they would know which part of town to search for them in. He remembered Cloud telling him that the Turks were under the direct command of President Shinra, and Riku was pretty sure the President would be happy if the rebel group were caught and convicted for their so-called crimes. Shinra probably would not hesitate to call on the army for reinforcements, even if it meant a huge fight taking place in the middle of the city where people who had nothing to do with either side might get severely injured.

Once again, Riku cursed the government. They had given in to the oppressors, and now they were doing everything in their power to help them keep control. It did not make any sense. Did politicians not have any pride left in them at all?

"I think they're too far away to notice if we slip out now," Jesse declared after a while. "But let's hurry anyway. The sooner we're back home, the better."

o0o

Cloud had been given the task of doing the dishes. They all took turns with the different jobs needing to be done if they wanted to keep their headquarters at least somewhat clean, but that did not change the fact that Cloud disliked cleaning. Truth to be told, he would rather be out there in the streets, searching for whatever information he could find, even if such a search might be futile because no ordinary citizen would have knowledge about the doings of the Shinra Department. Nevertheless, you never knew until you asked.

Even so, he kept his calm and stayed in Hollow Bastion most of the time. There was often planning to be done, tactics to be discussed, and information to be pieced together once again in case they may discover something new, something they had not thought of before.

Finally drying the last plate, Cloud sighed with relief and went for his room, meeting Tifa by chance halfway down the first floor corridor.

"So how was the shopping?" he inquired. He knew she and Jesse had left early, taking Riku with them. Cloud had been up just as early as yet another attempt to sleep in had failed. Old habits were hard to change.

"It was fine, I guess," she replied, shrugging. "Just the usual. We showed Riku the market in Sector 6. Apparently, on Destiny Islands they had a mall instead."

"You got him to tell about his past?" Cloud raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Not what happened to him and why he was at the base, if that's what you mean." Of course, she was head-on again. "I figure he'll tell us when the time's right. For now, he's just settling in. I'm not about to pry him for information just to satisfy you guys' curiosity."

Her tone was reproachful, yet there was a glint in her eyes that clearly let Cloud understand the fact that she was only mocking him a little, probably due to his former suspicious attitude towards the boy. He smiled faintly at that. Somehow it always made him a strange kind of happy when she was able to tease him a little. It made the whole situation seem less deadly serious whenever he saw that smile in her eyes.

"One thing did happen, though …" At her hesitant tone Cloud instantly felt alarm and as he waited for her to continue different scenarios started flooding his mind, none of them very optimistic. "We saw Tseng and Elena at the market square."

He frowned.

"Tseng and Elena? What were they doing there?"

"That's also what I'd like to know," she replied, sighing and pulling a hand through her hair. "In any case, we made sure they didn't see us. I didn't want to risk anything."

"A smart move." Even though Tifa and Jesse knew the area well enough to be able to shake off the Turks at some point, Cloud preferred they avoided a direct confrontation. He always hated the thought of Tifa being put in any sort of danger. She would most likely call him stupid with a smile and tell him how she _was_ capable of protecting herself if he said anything, but he always worried for her safety whenever they were out there on missions, trying to fight the government.

"I just…" She hesitated again, and he saw the well-known look of worry in her features and wished he could do something to assure her there was nothing to worry about, but knew he could not without lying, and she would see right through him then. "I always wonder what will happen if they ever find us. I mean, what if they figured out we're in Sector 7 and began searching every house? What would we do then?"

"Tifa," he covered the short distance between them to put a hand on her shoulder, and as she looked up to meet his gaze he continued, "they're not gonna find us here. There are too many houses and too few Turks. Besides, how would they know we're here of all places? I mean, there're eight sectors, both underneath the plate and above, and we've made sure we were never followed back from any of our missions. We're safe."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she smiled faintly and he saw that light in her eyes again.

"Do you promise?" she asked, in a less serious tone.

"Yes." _Just like I promised to protect you all those years ago._ It had been a promise his confused mind had forgotten, but she had made him remember the words he had spoken back in Nibelheim. Cloud had sworn to himself that he would honor that promise forever.

But sometimes he doubted if he could. If he was strong enough to not let her down. And that was when thoughts of Aerith and Zack haunted his mind, thoughts of their untimely deaths which had been Cloud's fault. What if, in the end, if he let Tifa in too close, she would end up the same way? Or, if he showed her how weak he really was, she would be disgusted and turn her back on him? Neither scenario was one he would be able to bear. He had only made it this far because she was always by his side, smiling at him when the world seemed only dark.

Their eyes met again, hers full of trust and a warmth that comforted him. They were both silent for a little while. When she spoke again, she had changed the subject.

"I really think we should tell Riku what we're up against," she declared. "What we know. It seems unfair to keep him in the dark, but I'm sure Barret will never agree."

"What Barret doesn't know won't hurt him," Cloud replied.

"So you're gonna tell him?" For once, he sensed surprise and felt strangely smug for being able to do something she had not expected.

"Yes. After I've tested his strength, that is."

She laughed.

"What is it with you men and all your fighting?" she wondered aloud.

"The same as with you women and gossiping all the time," he teased and walked past her towards the staircase.

"We're not gossiping _all_ the time!" she defended her pride. He just grinned, and her tone changed. "Hey, Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"Go easy on him."

This time, he was the one to smile.

"I will."

o0o

After having changed into some of the new clothes, Riku decided he might as well join the others in the living-room. On his way downstairs, however, he ran into Cloud. The blonde sent him what almost looked like a smile.

"I was just looking for you," the man told him. "Say, Riku, do you know how to use a sword?"

"Yes," he replied, remembering all the times he and Sora had fought. The weapons they had used may have been wooden, but they still counted as swords, right? After all, they had helped him get the movements and techniques pretty much down.

"Really?" Cloud seemed surprised, and Riku felt a twitchof annoyance surge through him.

"What, hadn't expected that?" he replied. "I used to duel my friend a lot. Never lost a match against him."

Perhaps Cloud could sense how much pride he took in his many wins because he just nodded slowly and beckoned for him to follow. Curiosity peaked, Riku went along as the blonde led him through the hallway of the ground floor, the kitchen, and finally outside to what must be the backyard of Hollow Bastion. Like the rest of the house it did not look like much. The dark sand they were now standing in was surrounded by a fence of wood, with a missing plank here and there.

Somehow this scenario reminded Riku of the training session with Leon on the beach and he had a feeling of what would come next. As Cloud took something from the holder on his back and held it towards him, Riku knew he had been right.

"Here. Take this. I think it'll fit you."

Riku accepted the sword, grabbing the handle and trying out its weight. It was definitely heavier than what he was used to but it could not be that hard to learn how to maneuver this weapon. Especially not if he knew he was doing it for the sake of protecting Sora and Kairi. Smirking slightly, he looked at Cloud.

"So what's next? I'm gonna fight you?"

There was a sort of unsettling look in the blonde's eyes as he replied. Had Riku known him better, he would have seen that Cloud was feeling perfectly sure he would win this oncoming battle. Not that it would have made Riku's will to try out his powers against him any smaller.

"Yes. Let's see what you can do."

"Okay then."

Placing himself in a more balanced position, Riku held up the sword, judging his opponent. There was no doubt that Cloud had the advantage in both height and strength, yet that just made Riku even more eager to fight him. He had always yearned to test his skills against someone else than Sora, just to find out how much he had actually learned so this was a chance he would not miss out on.

Cloud took a sword similar to Riku's from a place by the wall. He must have put it there beforehand because no other weapons were in sight, Riku noted as he watched Cloud's movements while the man got ready. Then, very sudden, Cloud attacked.

Riku met the first attack head on, grimacing as his muscles protested against the strain being put on them from the swords meeting. He threw himself down and rolled away, half expecting Cloud to try and stop him, but the man backed off a little and let him get to his feet. It was obvious to Riku that he was being tested and he did not like it one bit. So this time, he attacked, aiming for the man's side.

Cloud blocked and turned, his sword getting dangerously close to Riku's leg for a second before the boy jumped out of reach, eyes narrowing.

"Why are you holding back?" he demanded to know.

"Because if I used my full strength you wouldn't stand a chance," Cloud replied.

"Prove it!"

Shrugging, Cloud came at him again, and Riku realized the man had told the truth. As the blonde attacked continuously, speed and precision better than anyone Riku had ever known, he could do nothing but block. The fight ended when Cloud felled him, Riku hitting the ground, his sword flyingout of his hand. Luckily, the sand softened the impact and he sat back up, rubbing his neck with a grimace.

"So that's the level of your skills," he said.

"Yeah," Cloud replied. "But you're not bad. Just need a little training. You gotta learn not to leave your side wide-open. You can't have had much resistance before if you haven't noticed you're doing that."

"Yeah, whatever." Instantly deciding he would train every day from now on, Riku picked up his dropped weapon. "Can I have the sword?"

"It's yours if you want it." Cloud shrugged, then put his own sword back against the wall. "Look, Riku, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Sensing this was something very different, Riku waited for Cloud to continue. When the man said nothing for a long while, he sighed and voiced a question himself.

"And that's what?"'

"The reason AVALANCHE is fighting. Sit down." He nodded at the sand and Riku slowly obeyed, Cloud following suit.

"I thought it was for the sake of freeing our country?" the silver-haired boy said, watching Cloud with a sudden wariness in his teal eyes.

"That's part of it, yes. But there's more. Do you know how this war began?"

"Of course; who doesn't? Enchanted Dominion attacked us and we lost because the government gave up."

"Yeah. Do you know, then, _why_ it began?"

At that, Riku felt silence. No, he did not know. To be honest, he had never thought about it much. He had just been thrown right into the battle together with everyone else on the islands. The reason had not mattered as much as survival.

"Because Enchanted Dominionwanted more land?"

"Yes. But it's not _our_ land they're after."

"What do you mean?"

Cloud probably sensed the confusion Riku was trying to hide because he had to think for a little while before he knew where to start. In the end, though, he met the younger man's gaze to tell the story of the war.

"The ruler of Enchanted Dominion is a woman named Maleficent. She's ruthless in her search for riches; whenever she hears about one she won't stop until it's in her possession. The country our northern frontier borders on, Land of Departure, happens to have a lot of those."

"That's why people travelled there originally, right? They taught us that in school."

"Correct. Recently, they found a new ore of gold, and of course Maleficent heard about that. But waging a war with Land of Departure is risky for her due to the ocean separating them, and the only way to make it easier is if she could have some bases that would not have to be situated on ships. So for that she needed our most northern point, Destiny Islands."

That explained a lot, Riku thought as he took in this new information. The continuous battles on the islands must have been Enchanted Dominion's soldiers fighting the warriors of Land of Departure. And the government soldiers, like Leon, must have been sent to assist Maleficent in her doings.

"All this is more or less common knowledge in Midgar," Cloud continued. "It's also widely known that Rufus Shinra took the position as President shortly after the old one gave in to Maleficent's forces. A secret that has not spread to the public, however, is the fact that he was _put_ into power _by_ the oppressors _because_ he wanted to cooperate with them. The few people who fought this decision were assassinated.  
"As long as he cooperates, Shinra can do whatever he wants. Which means he can continue with something he had already begun way before we were attacked: the experiments of the Shinra Department. Ever heard about that?"

Riku racked his brain, trying to recall any mention he might have overheard about it, but in the end had to shake his head.

"No."

"Didn't think so," Cloud declared. "That's because what they're doing has never been made public."

"So what _are_ they doing?" Riku asked, starting to tire of this whole secret attitude Cloud seemed to have currently put up.

"Experiments on humans with a substance they've named 'Darkness'."

Admitted, that was not what he had expected to hear. Riku's eyes widened as he took this in, eventually voicing another question.

"What does this Darkness do?"

"It makes people lose themselves." Riku noticed how Cloud's eyes darkened at these words, as if a very painful memory suddenly came back to haunt him. "It erases every bit of humanity and lures people into surrendering to their most cruel instinct: the desire to kill."

A chill ran through his body and Riku could not help shivering.

"That's why there are more to this battle than just freedom," Cloud added before Riku could say anything. "So now you know what we're really fighting for. Don't tell Barret just yet; he didn't exactly agree to me revealing this to you, but I thought you should at least know what you're getting into."

Then he stood, picked up his spare sword, and left Riku to ponder all the new information. And so he did. He had never known an organization like the Shinra Department existed. Experimenting on humans in order to turn them into heartless killers … what sort of purpose was that anyway?

Imagining Sora or Kairi in the hands of those scientists made his heart contract in fear. No. He would never let that happen. This revelation of Cloud's just gave him even more reason to stay with AVALANCHE and make a difference. Cloud and the others may be fighting for the country, but Riku was first and foremost fighting for the sake of his friends.


	6. First Mission

A/N: I am so sorry about the long wait! There've been a lot of changes in my life lately so I needed a bit of time to get everything into place. But now I'm totally back at writing again and am proud to present you with the latest chapter of Sinister Sundown! (: I know nothing about trains, but I hope you'll like it anyway. Tried to do a bit of research for it.

Thanks for reviewing to Project Sephiroth, GameSpazzer, and Asuragetsfalconpunched! Hope you'll keep following my story, and the same to all my other readers! Makes me smile~

So, in this chapter Riku gets to be part of the kind of work AVALANCHE is doing. I think that's all there is to say. I'll get back to my writing again so I can get a new chapter up again quite a bit quicker than this one.

On another note, I totally felt like placing a "Mission accomplished" (as far as I recall it) at the end of the chapter as a Crisis Core reference, but ended up not since I didn't feel like it really fit ... Anyway, enough of my babbling. On to the story. :D

* * *

**Chapter 6: First Mission**

That night, Riku could not sleep. His thoughts kept going back to the information Cloud had revealed to him, his mind racing with new theories and questions he suddenly felt like he really wanted an answer to, yet knew he probably would not get any time soon. It was not just that, however. He was also worried. Just like they had done every time he found himself alone, pictures of Sora and Kairi popped into his mind and for the at least hundredth time he wondered where they were now, what they were doing, whether they were still okay …

In the end, as morning slowly began to show, he gave up on sleep. There was no use staying in bed when he did not relax there anyway, so he got up. Had he still been back at the islands, he would have gone to the beach side and lied down, looking up at the calm blue sky above and hearing the sounds of the waves gently splashing at his feet …

But he was not, so he would just have to choose the best alternative he could find. Silently, not wanting to wake up anyone, he pushed the door open and started down the hallway, the stairs, then another hallway until he reached his destination and found a place to rest. The sand was not as soft and the sky wasn't visible at all from here; instead, all he could see from the small backyard was the grey metal-like bottom of the plate above upon which the richer people of society lived, not caring at all about the ones beneath.

He sighed. Midgar might be an adventure, but he found he somehow missed the quiet peace of Destiny Islands.

Jesse was the one to find him there an hour or so later when most of the people in the house had stirred. Her grinning face came into view as she leaned down over him.

"Hey," she said. "What're you doing out here?"

"Just thinking," he replied.

"'Bout what?"

"Lots of stuff."

"That's not really a very informative answer," she laughed as he sat up, shrugging. "Anyway, you should go back inside. Barret's got some stuff to tell us; it seems some new information on Shinra's movements came in late last night."

Her words make Riku get up quickly and he followed Jesse inside as she lead the way down the hallway to the living room. Here, the other members of AVALANCHE had gathered, most of them filling up the now very crowded couch. Riku placed himself on the arm of a chair, ignoring completely the glare Barret sent his way, while Jesse went to sit on Biggs' lap. Wedge, who had occupied the chair, sent Riku a smile and seemed about to say something, but he was interrupted by Barret.

"So now that we're all here," he said, sending a meaning glance around the room, "I've got stuff to tell you lot. We got some info late in the evening, and Shinra's up to somethin' new. Apparently, he's run out of supplies. So I say we stop him from receiving his refills…"

"Right now," Cloud interrupted, "a train stuffed with new supplies for the experiments of the Shinra Department is on its way to Midgar. According to our source, it's not very well guarded because no one is supposed to know of its arrival. It will be going to the abandoned station in Sector 2, from which an armed guard will be escorting it through the city, and that's why attacking it there would be very dangerous. But Barret, Cid, and I have been looking at maps of Radiant Garden, and we've found the perfect spot for an attack – the mountains of North train will reach them around midnight today so that's when we'll have to be ready. We're leaving in three hours."

A jolt of excitement went through Riku, and he barely noticed how Cloud stood and left the room, the meeting concluded. Finally he would have the chance to do something. Even though he had only been here for such a short time, it already felt like he had been passively watching for eternities. This mission would be different from hiding in the bushes seeing soldiers pass by while itching to injure them. This would be taking action, and that was a thought Riku did not much mind.

"Are you hungry?" Tifa's voice brought him back to the room. She had come to stand beside him, sending him a smile. "The rest of us ate half an hour ago, but I left some food for you in the kitchen. We figured you were still sleeping, but Jesse tells me she found you out in the backyard?"

"Yeah, I was… thinking," he finished, not really feeling up for elaborating. "Breakfast sounds good. Is it on the kitchen table?"

"Yes," she replied.

He noticed the slight hesitation in her face as he stood and went for the door, and it was not unexpected when she asked him the question he'd had a pretty good idea was coming.

"So do you feel ready to join us on this mission?"

Riku turned around and sent her a confident smile.

"I feel like I've been ready a lifetime."

o0o

Cloud always felt uneasy right before a mission. It was not quite the same as being nervous – because he never really was – yet it was a strange feeling, almost a forewarning, of the things that might go wrong. He always pushed the thoughts away, but the sensation remained in his body even so. He knew _he_ could take care of himself – there was no way anything Shinra threw at him could take him down – but he worried about his friends, about AVALANCHE as a whole. It seemed so fragile sometimes, this bond holding them together, and even though he knew he should trust it, he sometimes found himself incapable of truly believing that they were really held together tightly enough to not get ripped apart should another accident occur. Maybe next time, it would be the final straw which crushed them all.

And of course, there was another thing on his mind, another worry shooting up inside him as he went to Tifa's room to stand in the doorway and see her prepare. She had put on the outfit she preferred to wear when she knew fighting could occur, one that made it possible for her to move more freely than her everyday clothes. She was so very beautiful, even as she tied back her hair, and once again Cloud had to remind himself to keep a straight face, to not let his feelings show.

He knew she had noticed him, but she did not say anything, waiting for him to start the conversation. She always gave him the time he needed.

"Tifa, are you sure you should be going?"

She sighed and, finally, turned to look at him as she put on her long gloves, a touch of impatience in her beautiful features.

"Cloud, you ask me that every time we're about to commence a mission," she said. "What makes you think the answer's ever gonna change?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I just worry about you. That's all."

"Well, Cloud Strife, you know pretty damn well I'm fully capable of defending myself." There was a smile in her eyes as she went to gently hit his arm. "So there's really no need for all that worrying."

He knew she was right. After all, he had seen her fight quite a lot of battles by now. Yet every time they ventured out, this fear, this horrible notion that this time, this time she may not return with them, haunted his mind anew, and however much he tried he could not stop it from coming and he never felt quite calm again until they were back in the temporary safety Hollow Bastion provided.

o0o

North Corel was more than a mountain; it was a whole chain of them positioned west of Midgar approximately a four hours drive away. Four hours were a lot to spend squeezed tightly together in the back of the car, Riku feared (and how in the world were Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge going to fit there as well?), until he found out they would be using another vehicle instead of the one he had experienced his first ride through the Wastelands in. Cid had once purchased a van to transport all of his precious computer parts and the like in, yet after he had joined AVALANCHE it had been redecorated to look like a very simple company car, with Cid looking a very tough driver behind the wheel and Jesse his very young girlfriend. And, just in case someone _did_ find the van suspicious anyway, the interior was a lot like the real interior of a car transporting goods to its company.

The only weakness in this cover was the fact that there was no way six people could hide behind the few available cardboard boxes in there. Riku had a feeling he himself might be able to, but there was no way a guy like Barret could squeeze in behind them, and even if he managed to, Riku doubted very much he would be unnoticeable – some part of him would definitely remain in full view.

They were in luck, however, because after an hours-long ride and a few stops where everyone held their breath as voices reached them whenever Cid was talking to someone outside, they could finally climb out of the back of the van, and Riku found himself standing at the foot of the mountain chain. He had never seen one up close before – on Destiny Islands, the highest point you could get to would be the top of a palm tree – and he had to admit it was slightly breathtaking.

"We'll walk from here," Cloud exclaimed. "The van can't get any further so everyone'll have to help carry our stuff."

Dark had fallen before they reached their destination and Riku was starting to wonder whether they would be walking all night without getting there when finally somewhere in front Cloud put down the boxes he'd had in his arms and walked to what turned out to be the edge of a cliff. It was not deep, Riku realized when he put down his chosen box and went to join him, but down there underneath them was a railroad track.

"This is where we'll commence the mission," Cloud said.

Riku just nodded. Cloud and Barret had explained their plan during the ride so everyone knew what to do when they got here. As Cloud turned to join Wedge, Biggs and Jessie who were currently unpacking the dynamite, Riku stayed at the edge and silently took in everything he could see. The Shinra train would be arriving in less than an hour.

Another jolt of excitement went through him and he grinned, adrenaline already pulsing through his veins. He would be ready. Even though he had a slight suspicion the reason he would be playing a somewhat less important role on this mission was because Barret did not trust him at all, the mere fact that he was out here, making a stand with the rebels, made him feel pretty satisfied.

o0o

Everything was ready. Everything was set. Yet Cloud still could not calm down. He found himself wandering around, checking up on everyone, until Jessie told him to sit down and stay there until they were to begin because seeing him so uneasy made _her_ nervous. So Cloud obeyed and waited. It could not be long now …

Less than five minutes later, Biggs jumped up from where he had been lying by the edge, excitement in his eyes.

"It's coming," he hissed and suddenly, everyone got more than busy. Cloud, grabbing his sword, joined Barret, Cid and Riku and climbed down towards the railroad track, using the rope ladder they had fastened earlier. There they waited until the lights from the train got closer. How he hated the waiting …

Finally, the lights from the front car became visible, working its way up over the mountain side. Here, it had to slow down because the tracks were old and worn and would break if the train went at full speed. In the distance, the bang of dynamite sounded.

And that was the signal. The group split up, Barret following Cloud as he ran towards the middle car, jumping up at its back and kicking the door open. He knew it was only a matter of minutes before the surprise element had gone out of their attack, yet minutes should be more than enough to confirm what they had guessed: this car _did_ indeed contain what must be Hojo's new supplies. Smiling just slightly at being right, Cloud nodded at Barret.

"We've gotta get up front and be ready to uncouple it!"

"I know that!" Barret snapped back.

They sped past a couple of scientists who jumped for their lives at the sight of the weapons the intruders were carrying, sending the two rebels either horrified or very annoyed looks, but Cloud took no notice, the only thing in his mind being completing the mission. It was a matter of perfect timing and he was not about to be the one who let down the others.

Barret was right behind him, and since the train seemed to have sped up, Cloud gathered Cid and Riku must have managed their part so far. Judging by the explosion earlier, so had Tifa and Wedge. Now they just had to cross their fingers and hope the information had been correct and there really _were_ no guards onboard the train who would slow them down.

But Cloud had barely opened the door in the front of the car and could see the mechanism keeping the cars together before heavy footsteps on the floor behind him and Barret uttering a curse convinced Cloud they had not been so lucky.

o0o

The plan itself was simple, really. East from where they had stopped to unpack, there was a bridge crossing between two of the mountain paths. It was already unstable, and it would therefore be fairly simple to blow it up (which Tifa and Wedge was going to do). However, the Shinra engineer probably knew the danger and would speed down a while before in case the handle changing the tracks had accidentally been pulled, as all train transport was usually led by another track until someone would finally manage to get their asses together and fix the damn bridge. Of course, pulling the handle was quite easy (and the job Jesse and Biggs had gotten), but in order for the train to actually crash, they would have to take out the engineer. Cid, accompanied by Riku, would be responsible for this part, while Cloud and Barret made sure to uncouple the second car. This way, the first car could gain just enough speed to make it to the secure track before the lanes were changed. The second car and everything behind it would be going downhill by then and therefore be unable to stop before it was too late.

The plan itself really _was_ quite simple. However, the timing had to be perfect or they would fail.

Taking out the driver had been easy enough. When the bang sounded, Cid had sped towards the first car and jumped up, not really caring whether Riku would need a hand. He did not, however. Jumping onto a train seemed easy after all the climbing and running around at unsafe places he and Sora had done at Destiny Islands. He had even managed to take out his sword as he got up, but he did not get to use it because Cid struck the engineer once with his fist and the guy fell to the ground, unconscious. Raising an eyebrow at that and making a mental note of never getting into a fistfight with the rough man, Riku stepped up next to him as he took in the controls for the train with steady, experienced eyes.

"Child's play," he muttered. "You go stand watch in the back, lad. I'll handle this baby."

"Got it." Knowing he would be of no help with the technique anyway, Riku obeyed and went to check the door leading to the rest of the car. It was locked, so he placed himself at one of the windows instead, the side-view mirror turning out to be a great tool for keeping an eye on what happened back where he knew Cloud and Barret were supposed to uncouple the second car soon.

Saidblond appeared in the door of the next car only a few moments later, sword in his hand and Barret at his heels. He seemed about to step out and reach for the mechanism when for some reason he suddenly turned back to where he came from, and soon after Riku understood why. Barret had reached the doorway, but he was fighting against a bunch of uniformed men. Riku cursed.

Cid, hearing this statement, turned his head.

"What's up now?" he asked.

"Seems there were guards on this train after all."

"What?" The man's brows furrowed. "That ain't good. Might mess up our timing."

"Yeah, it sucks … How long before we're at the crossroad?"

"Only…" Cid glanced out the window again, "four minutes, I'd wager. They'd better get that mechanism unhooked or we'll fail."

"Not if I can have a say!" Riku replied, a decision forming in his mind as he grabbed hold of the open window and swung himself out. Cid yelled something after him as he began slowly making his way down the side of the car, grabbing a hold of whatever his fingers could find. Even if he knew it would soon be a matter of seconds there was simply no way he would let his first mission fall to the ground. And if he fell off, so be it. He would rather die trying than sit back and watch their victory disappear in thin air.

It seemed like an eternity before he could finally climb in through another window, but it could not have been that long because they had not reached the crossroad yet. With his feet back on at least somewhat firm ground, he raced through what seemed to be someone's dining room and flung the door open, finding himself in the middle of the action. Cloud was still fighting alongside Barret, and they obviously had their hands full because none of them were anywhere near the hook. Well, then Riku would have to take care of that.

One of the soldiers had seen him appear and yelled something he did not hear because he did not care enough about it to listen. It didn't matter; the only thing that _did _matter was the mechanism before him. Only thing was, he had never been on a train before because everyone commuted by boat or foot on Destiny Islands so he had no idea how to uncouple it. However, it could not be that hard, could it? Raising his sword, Riku tried the only thing that seemed at least somewhat reasonable at the moment, and struck right at the connection.

Nothing happened.

"You can't do it like that." Cloud had turned his head enough to explain while holding off two soldiers. "You gotta loosen the screw first, then pull out the upper one. Hurry!"

How he had managed to see what Riku was doing while busy fighting was a mystery to Riku but there was no time to ponder stuff now. He grabbed hold of the screw-like object and pulled as hard as he could until finally he got it out and could take out the upper part of the lock. No sooner had he done so than the carspractically bumped into each other, as the second one – now free of its connection – gained speed because of the downhill slope. Riku almost fell off at the collision and quickly held on to the edge of the open doorway.

Cloud, having seen what happened and knowing Riku had done exactly the thing he and Barret could not, waited until the kid had fought his way back into the first car, then – knowing they barely had any time left – sent the closest soldiers flying into their comrades attacking Barret and motioned for him to follow as he jumped, joining Riku. A moment later, Barret came flying in through the open door as well and as if this had been a signal, the front car left its rears behind, driving onto the track not leading to the bridge only seconds before Jesse and Biggs changed it. The rest of the Shinra train had nothing to stop it. Though Cloud could not see it happen, he knew it had fallen down into the mountain lake underneath. The scientists and the guards may be able to save themselves, but Hojo's supplies was lost, or at least ruined for good.

Riku sat down against the wall, letting out a breath of relief and did not get up until the train stopped and Cid entered the room, seemingly having gotten out of the engineer's compartment to do so.

"Are ye all insane?" he asked, voice calm and a cigarette in his hand. "I knew you two were," and he indicated Cloud and Barret, "but I'm surprised 'bout the lad. You're all birds of a damn feather, huh?"

Riku just sent him a tired grin, the adrenalin that had filled his body only minutes ago suddenly rendering him exhausted as hell. Cloud knew the feeling, though the last time he really felt it was many years ago by now.

"Let's get back to the rendezvous point," he told the others, not feeling like replying to Cid's comment. He knew the man probably did not expect getting an answer anyway. He knew Cloud too well by now, because though Cloud rarely let anyone in, at least everyone around him knew his habits and – he had noticed – some of them seemed able to figure out more of him than he had thought possible from the way he acted.

"Yeah," Riku agreed and was about to stand when suddenly Barret placed himself in front of the kid. Riku narrowed his eyes. "What? You about to lecture me on how you still don't trust me and will be watching me closely from now on as well?"

Barret huffed and seemed about to lose his temper, but then he took a deep breath and held out a hand to the silver-haired boy. Obviously surprised, Riku accepted it and got up.

"You got some damn nerve, kid," Barret told him. "I respect that in a man. Consider yourself an official member of AVALANCHE. But don' get smart with me, or I might change my mind!"

"Whatever," Riku grinned, but Cloud had a feeling the man's words had made him happy. He smiled a little at the scenario, then turned around and led the way back to the van.


	7. Descendant of Shinobi

A/N: Enter Yuffie, the great ninja spy! And suddenly, the dialogue increases in lenght... at least when the hyper ninja girl is speaking. I really love Yuffie and her enthusiasm. I'm also starting to really like Jesse (and the BiggsXJesse relationship). When I first started writing this story, I had no idea she would play such a big role in these chapters as the one being most friendly to Riku.

I wanted to give AVALANCHE a moment to breathe before picking up the pace again, and let you all have a look at what their life in Hollow Bastion is like in-between missions, with the daily worrying about whether next mission will succeed or possibly be fatal to them. I think, living in the kind of situation they do, it must be tough to relax for real.

Enjoy the chapter! And thanks to Asuragetsfalconpunched and Anon for reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Descendant of Shinobi**

There was an atmosphere of overexcitement in the group as they went home. During the ride, Barret told the story of what had happened on the train, causing the others to congratulate Riku on his part in their success. This, in turn, made him feel more than slightly smug. Jesse even went so far as to declare Riku the new hero of AVALANCHE, making Barret break into a rage and everyone else laugh.

When they reached the safety of Hollow Bastion after having walked a kilometer or so after parking the van in one of the other sectors because it would be too risky having it anywhere near their headquarter, Biggs brought out several bottles of alcohol and declared loudly that they should celebrate their victory. Much talking and even dancing followed, and though Riku enjoyed the party, he felt his eyelids grow heavier as the hours went by.

He did not realize he had fallen asleep before Tifa gently shook him. A little dazed, he met her eyes.

"You should go to bed," she told him. "You've been sleeping in that armchair for thirty minutes now."

"Yeah, you missed Wedge barfing," Jesse laughed from somewhere beside him.

"Can't say I feel sorry 'bout that," he replied and tried to stifle a yawn as he got up.

Jesse laughed again and went back to Biggs' side, but Tifa followed Riku into the hallway and closed the door behind them. She smiled, the slight redness of her face the only thing showing that she, too, had had a few drinks. Riku wondered what she wanted to say as he met her eyes again.

"I'm glad," she told him. "You seem more relaxed now. I hope this mission didn't scare you off?"

"Quite the contrary," he replied. "It felt good, the fighting. I'm ready to take on whatever Shinra throws at us. You can count on me."

She contemplated him for a while, and Riku had a feeling she could see more in his eyes than he wanted to show, something he was not quite sure how to feel about. Yet he did not look away, and in the end, Tifa was the one to break the sudden silence.

"You seem to have a lot to fight for," she said. "I hope you'll tell us about it someday. We've all been through a lot, you know. This road we've chosen is a harsh one so I believe we need to support each other in order to continue forward. Anyway, I'll go back inside. Sleep tight."

Before Riku had a chance to reply, she had left, a moment of noise and laughter reaching his ears again before the door was shut. He stood there in the hallway for a moment, thinking. He had not really noticed it before, but the way Tifa could see through people made her somewhat similar to Kairi.

The thought of his friend made Riku's throat tighten and he quickly pushed it away. He had to stay tough. Turning around, he made his way up the stairs and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep the instant his head touched the pillow.

o0o

In spite of the night before, Riku found himself unable to sleep in. After lying in bed for fifteen minutes, staring through the window at what would probably have been a sunrise if the sun had been visible down in the slums of Midgar, he got up. Redressing (because he realized he had forgotten to undress yesterday due to exhaustion), he cast one last glance out the window, then made his way downstairs.

The house was quiet except for the occasional snoring from one of the other bedrooms. Riku wondered swiftly to whom the various rooms belonged, then reached the stairways and continued out the backdoor into the backyard. Somehow, the dark sand under his feet seemed a sad sign of the decay this city had suffered. Riku thought of the beaches of Destiny Islands and wondered whether the inhabitants of the Midgar slums could even imagine such a place existed when all they knew was _this_.

He brought up his sword, tried without any success to clear his mind of thoughts, then began charging at the imaginary opponent before him. He felt himself getting caught up in the movements of battle, attacking, blocking, again and again, unaware of his surroundings and finally able to more or less let go of his thoughts.

Which was why when a voice sounded from behind, he jumped and swung around abruptly to face the unknown speaker.

"Isn't it stupid, fighting someone who isn't there?" The voice belonged to a young girl, seemingly only a few years older than Riku himself. Her dark hair was short and she'd wrapped a headband around it. Dark eyes bore into teal ones for a long moment, the girl standing with an arm at her side, though she seemed barely able to actually stay still.

"Why do you care?" Riku snapped coldly. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Me?" The girl seemed to glow with pride and ego as she stuck out her chest, suddenly reminding Riku a whole damn lot of a pompousrooster. "_I'm_ the great ninja spy Yuffie!"

"A spy?" Riku's eyes narrowed.

"Yes," the girl replied. "The _great ninja spy_ Yuffie. And don't you forget that!"

It seemed unlikely to him that a girl like that could be an actual spy.

"Huh. If you're a spy, what are you doing here, then?"

She shrugged.

"Well, I'm sort of a Shinra spy, if you know what I mean."

"A Shinra spy?" Suddenly on guard, Riku watched her with whole new eyes.

"Yeah," she replied matter-of-factly. "Do you wanna fight me? Coz I can totally beat your ass!"

And she made punching movements at an invisible enemy. Riku huffed, a confident smile forming on his lips. This girl was utterly ridiculous. If she really _was _a Shinra spy, their level was far lower than he would have imagined.

"Come at me, then," he replied.

She took him up on it, and the next thing Riku knew, he had to block a gigantic throwing star that seemed to come out of nowhere, followed by a punch from Yuffie right in its wake. He swore and swung his sword at her side, but she was fast and jumped out of reach mere seconds before the blade cut the thin air where she had just been standing. Knowing now he had misjudged the level of her skills, Riku backed away a few steps, watching her as she landed on the ground a few meters away, throwing star yet again in hand.

"You're not bad," she told him with a grin. "But this'll be _my_ win."

"We'll see 'bout that," he replied. There was no way he was losing to that girl.

She attacked again, but this time Riku was ready for her. Dodging the throwing star rather than blocking it, he struck at her as she attacked physically, and she let out a yelp of surprise, having to jump away in order to not get hit. Her face screwed up in an almost pouty way, she stuck out her chin.

"That was intentional!" she declared. "I was testing you."

"Yeah, right," he taunted her. "Prove it!"

"Oh, I _will_!" And she made to attack again.

But before either of them could make another move, again a voice sounded.

"Yuffie?" It was Cloud this time, and his eyes were on the girl, eyebrows slightly raised as if surprised to see her. "What are you doing here? I thought we weren't supposed to meet up till next week?"

"Yeah, well, I got some exciting news," she replied. "Come on, Cloud! Fight me!"

And again, she made that stupid punching movement at no one in particular.

"No way," Cloud told her. "Get inside. Tifa's making breakfast as we speak."

"Yay!" Yuffie exclaimed and took off. Cloud turned to Riku.

"So what story did she feed you?" he asked. "She usually comes up with a new way of introducing herself, though she always includes the 'great ninja spy' part."

"She said she was a Shinra spy," Riku replied, feeling rather stupid because Yuffie obviously was not a threat to AVALANCHE based on the way Cloud treated her.

The blonde laughed a little.

"It's somewhat true. Except she's spying _on _Shinra, _for_ us. She probably put it in a way that would make you fight her. She's got too much confidence in her skills, though she _is_ better than the average. Thing is, though, most of AVALANCE are as well."

"I can't believe I fell for that," Riku mumbled, putting a hand to his face in embarrassment.

"Don't sweat it," Cloud replied. "I think we've all been there. Come on."

And he led the way inside.

As they walked down the hallway, Riku suddenly realized hours must have passed because the quiet of dawn had been replaced by the liveliness of day. All around the house, the voices of the other AVALANCHE members were echoing, boosted by the occasional laugh. Riku could not help smiling just the slightest at the feel of it. It was the atmosphere of a home. He and Cloud made their way to the kitchen where Yuffie had already placed herself on the table, watching with eager eyes and talking rapidly while Tifa finished up their meal. Not until they were seated around the table, busy eating Tifa's delicious food, however, did Cloud bring up the subject of Yuffie's untimely arrival.

"So what info have you got?" he asked her. "I won't believe you're a week early just because you couldn't find someone to cook you dinner."

"Shaddup," Yuffie replied, though her words were barely distinguishable due to the large quantity of omelet she had just stuffed into her mouth. Riku could hardly believe one person could contain that much and still be able to speak. "Lemme finish eating and I'll tell you."

She sank hard, dried her mouth with her hand, then started buttering her piece of bread while continuing to talk.

"So, last night I was wandering around the outskirts of Midgar," she said. "Because it's nice and cozy out there, with the stars and the trees and all. And I thought, hey, why not stop by that old shut-down factory, just for the heck of it, you know. And d'you know what I saw?" She paused for a second, as if waiting for someone to make a guess. When no one did, she rolled her eyes and went on. "Shinra van, the sort they use at the facilities. So of course I sneaked in closer, totally unseen by anyone because of my ninja skills, and I watched people come out of the van. And guess who one of 'em was? It was stupid Hojo!"

This time, she got her reaction. Barret swore loudly, calling Hojo something Riku was pretty sure would have made his mother gasp and cover his ears, Wedge almost choked on a piece of apple, and Tifa's gaze darkened noticeably. Only Cloud seemed untouched by her story.

"What was he doing there?" he inquired.

"I've no idea!" was Yuffie's reply. "It's not like I went down and asked him. I just saw him enter the old factory, then sneaked around some more. As far as I could see - and I _was_ being very thorough, Cloud! - there was no particular amount of guards. It's like they don't want people to know they're using the place, and they're doing pretty well with that coz I've _never_ heard it mentioned by _any_ of my contacts, and you know I've got a bunch! I think..." and her eyes shone, "that this may be our new big chance at Hojo! I doubt he'd go there only to stay a couple hours, do you?  
"Of course, it's gonna be highly dangerous coz we don't know what the place actually looks like, or what's going on. But there're no guards. That's gotta be an advantage, right? And we gotta act quick, else he'll be back in Midgar under maximum security again. So let's at least consider it, right?"

The other members of AVALANCHE seemed to have gone completely silent. Riku looked around at the grave faces at the table, feeling a mix between slightly nervous and excited as hell. Maybe it was due to the well-done mission at North Corel, but personally, he could not wait to get out in the field again. If there really were no guards at the factory, why not take the chance?

But something in Cloud's face told him it was not that easy. When the blonde finally stood after a while, he asked Barret and Cid to join him. Riku wondered where they were going until Jesse - apparently having caught the gleam of confusion in his eyes - said:

"They're gonna discuss this opportunity. To find out whether we should risk it. It'll probably take an hour or more so there's no use sitting here waiting."

And on that note, she got up and left the kitchen. So did Biggs and Wedge. Tifa remained behind and started doing the dishes while Yuffie dried them. The spy girl was talking excitedly, but Tifa seemed to hardly be listening. Instead, her eyes were resting on something in the distance, something not viewable to anyone else, her face somehow shining with worry. Suddenly feeling somewhat uncomfortable and intruding, Riku got up as well and went for the backyard. He felt like being alone. This was the first time since he had arrived that he felt, without any inch of doubt, that he was new, that he did not know exactly what being a rebel meant, that there was so much AVALANCHE had already gone through he had not been a part of. So leaving them to their memories seemed like the better choice.

Picking up his sword again, he started doing drills to ease the feeling of restlessness that had somehow sneaked into his body. He did not know how long had passed before Yuffie was suddenly in the doorway.

"You're training again." It was more of a statement than a question.

Riku shrugged and stopped, resting the sword against the wall as he started stretching. Yuffie, placing herself in the hard sand, watched him as he did so, and Riku was about to snap at her to stop staring when she opened her mouth again.

"I trained all the time back in Wutai."

"You're from Wutai?" Well, that _did_ explain her looks.

"Yeah. You know about it?"

"Of course." Everyone who had ever been taught geography in school knew. Wutai was a small, once independent country south-west of Radiant Garden. Ever since forty years ago where they had been conquered, however, they had belonged to Radiant Garden rule. He had been told Wutai people's customs and way of living differed from theirs on quite a lot of points.

"Good." Yuffie smiled. "Well, we used to be pretty famous after all, so of course you'd know. The country of great warriors!"

There was something reminiscent about her eyes as she continued.

"Thing is, before Shinra became President, we in Wutai had been able to live pretty much as normal. I mean, sure, it's Radiant Garden rule and laws and all, but hey, it wasn't that strict. We could keep practicing our own religion and fighting and stuff. But then Shinra happened." Her gaze darkened. "He definitely aims to destroy our dignity as much as he possibly can. I don't know what the hell his problem is, but he's definitely got something up his ass! He imposed all these restrictions on us, so now we're pretty much not allowed to do anything Wutai-ish _at all_. So I left coz I swore to get our honor and stuff back, and so basically, AVALANCHE and I have the same goal so I figured, hey, why not join and lend them a hand? And here I am!"

She smiled widely, as if that very fact was the end of all their problems. But somehow, Riku could not help smiling just slightly at her self-conceived attitude. At least she had something inside her apart from that. Maybe she was just a bit less annoying now.

"Why'd you join?" she suddenly asked out of the blue, looking at him with huge, expectant eyes.

Riku was quiet for a while, considering whether or not he should tell her. But then again, she had just blurted out the entire story of her life, and it was not as if his reasons were a secret exactly. She was just the first one to ask him directly about it.

"I want to protect two friends of mine," he said. "When the war began, we lost everything else. I don't want them to suffer more than they already have."

"It's good to have something to fight for, isn't it?" Yuffie sent him a grin. "Makes you a lot stronger. At least that's what I believe! I mean, just look at Cloud! He's fighting for Tifa, and he's, like, _the man_, right?"

Taken by surprise by this news, Riku just blinked and stared at her, totally uncomprehending.

"Wait, what? They're a couple?"

"Well, technically, they're just childhood friends and stuff, but it's totally obvious they've got the hots for each other, but they're both too shy or whatever it is to just come out and admit it. And it's none of my business, anyway, so I keep outta it, out of respect for Tifa because she always cooks me dinner when I'm here and starving from my spying missions."

"Huh." Riku decided at once he was definitely going to keep out of it, too. Mostly because there was nothing he would like to stay away from more than love trouble. It was just way too complicated.

"Oh, hey, seems the leader meeting is over!" Yuffie said, straining her ears and jumping up at once. "I'll go back inside, see you there!"

And so she did. Riku, eager to know what the outcome of the discussion was, followed suit.

o0o

Cloud looked out over the well-known faces of the rest of AVALANCHE as he stood by the wall, leaning towards it with crossed arms and waiting for Barret to start talking. Since the man was the official leader of the group, Cloud usually left it up to him to relay the things he, Cloud, and Cid had agreed on when they now and then withdrew to Barret's room upstairs to discuss their options and plans.

Barret seemed to be taking his time, waiting for everyone to settle down in whatever chair or couch that was free. Even he understood the graveness of the situation, it seemed. He was definitely less keen on it than he had been when they'd had their chance at the North Corel mission. Cid, too, was even graver than usual as he sat there in the small armchair, chewing lightly on an unlit cigarette.

"So," Barret finally began as the last few members had fallen silent, "you all know what we've been talking about. We've made a decision, but we wanna hear the opinion of the rest of you lot before we tell ya. Start talking. Tifa?"

She closed her eyes for a long moment, and Cloud could not take his eyes off of her. Even worried, she was still more beautiful than anything else he had ever known. He felt at that moment, if she disagreed with them, he would instantly change his mind, just for her.

"I honestly don't know," she said at last. "It's such a big risk to take. But if it means we can finally get to Hojo ... maybe it'd be worth it. Maybe."

Yeah, they had been trying to get their hands on the mad professor for quite a while now. But somehow, somehow he always seemed to get away like the slippery eel he was.

"Hm," was Barret's only comment. "Wedge?"

"I'm not really happy 'bout the idea," the chubby guy admitted. "Biggs?"

"We should do it," his friend said with such certainty in his voice it made everyone look at him at once. Even Jesse, who had been staring at the floor for most of the meeting, apparently feeling uncomfortable somehow, lifted her gaze and watched her boyfriend's set mouth. "I mean, making a rebellion is all about taking risks and hoping those risks can help us do some damage to the enemy, right? If we get an opportunity like this thrown at us and doesn't take it, what would that make us? Are we really so afraid of what _could_ happen that we don't even dare try and imagine what we could _gain_ from it instead of what we could lose? This is our big shot, guys! You only get one chance like this in a lifetime."

Barret nodded slightly.

"Jesse?"

"I've got nothing to say that hasn't already been said," she told him, though whether this meant she agreed with Biggs or with Wedge was unclear. Cloud had a feeling she, like Tifa, may be in two minds about the decision. He couldn't blame them. He was not even completely sure himself if what they were about to do was the right or the wrong thing.

"So it seems mostly we all agree," Barret said at last. "We believe - though we're very aware of the risks - that this is a chance worth takin'. We've made a plan that should at least give us a fair chance of succeedin', though what exactly we'll be facing is hard to say. But if we all stick together, we'll pull through, don't ya think?"

His enthusiasm was surprising sometimes. Cloud was not as optimistic about the situation. He could already feel the uneasiness of it creep over him as if someone had thrown a bucket of it at him, and so he knew as soon as they had let the others in the plan, he had better retire to somewhere he could be alone. The need to calm himself was overwhelming.

He felt someone looking at him and lifted his gaze only to meet Tifa's hazel eyes. They had the same uncertainty in them as he felt, and Cloud wished he could give her a reason to forget all the ifs, to feel secure this mission really _was_ the right thing for them to do right now and _would _succeed, but knew he could not.

"I've got something to say!" Yuffie declared from the back of the couch. "I'm gonna join. I'll meet you there, in disguise. I mean, this mission's sort of dangerous, and so we'll need all the firepower we can get, right? I'm totally in!"

Well. That was unexpected (but then again, a lot of the things Yuffie did were). So far, she had stayed away from their missions, though half of the time it had been on Cloud's orders because they needed her where she was, and that was not on the battlefield. Yuffie had a gift of casually prodding people for information they would normally not have revealed, however unlikely it may seem at first sight that she could even be anything close to a spy.

"That's the spirit!" Barret declared. "So, here's the plan ..."

o0o

That evening, Riku found himself unable to sleep, though Tifa had advised him to grab a couple of hours so he would be rested and ready to commence the mission. However, restlessness had taken over his body, and so he once again made his way to the backyard. When he opened the door, though, he stopped as he saw something quite unexpected. Jesse was sitting in the middle of the place, looking up at the grey metal plate above. It seemed he was not the only one who frequented this place as a thinking space.

"Hey," he greeted as he sat down next to her.

"Hi," she replied. Then, "I wish I could see the stars."

Riku blinked in surprise and looked at her. Jesse was still watching the plate.

"I really wish I could see the stars," she whispered, and Riku was suddenly uncertain whether she was talking to him or to herself. "I mean, they used to calm me, when I was a kid. God, I'm so worried. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd go here, but I still can't seem to calm down. That plate up there... it's just making it worse. I really miss the stars."

Not sure how to reply to that, Riku simply chose to remain silent. It felt awkward, being in this situation, and he strongly considered whether he should have just stayed in his room instead.

"Biggs doesn't understand what I'm so worried about." Jesse spoke again. "He's so confident it'll all be fine. But I just... I have a feeling, you know? A bad feeling. Like an omen. But he doesn't understand, and he's probably right, we _should_ take this opportunity, right? I mean, it _is_ what we're fighting for, we should be ready to take risks or we won't get anywhere, I know. I just... I wish I could see the stars and know everything would be okay in the end."

Starting to feel like he should do something, like pat her on the shoulder or something, to let her know things would work out fine, Riku found himself perplexed. He had never been the witness of such an outburst of emotions. Kairi had mostly directed them at Sora because she knew it made Riku somewhat uncomfortable. It wasn't that he did not feel sympathy for Jesse; he just did not know how to discuss such things. Emotions were something girls found it easy to talk about, not guys.

He was about to try and say something anyway when she stood, sending him a small, insecure smile.

"Thanks for listening," she said earnestly. "It was nice, just getting it off my chest."

Then she turned and went back inside. Confused, Riku just sat there for a while, his own restlessness somehow gone.

Approximately an hour and a half later, Wedge appeared in the door and said to get ready. The mission was about to commence.


	8. A Fight to the Death

A/N: I've really been looking forward to writing this chapter because now I'm gonna give the story another little kick forwards by revealing partly what Darkness does to people. Also, I believe a small warning is proper: there will be both death and blood in this chapter (ergo the title). Even so, I hope you'll enjoy as the danger of rebelling is finally becoming clear to Riku.

Dang, the design of the interior of the factory was killing me! XD I had to make a drawing to get an overview of the place, and I think I redid it, like, three times or something before I was completely satisfied...

And thanks to sunflowerspot and Princess of Heart 11 for reviewing~

* * *

**Chapter 8: A Fight to the Death**

The old factory outside Midgar had been shut down five years ago as a result of a slight economic downfall, causing a closure of several facilities from every business sector. Ever since then, most Midgarians had been unwilling to approach it due to the late rumors of it being haunted. It had probably just been boyish high jinks which had started it, or maybe, Riku thought as he watched the Shinra van outside the building, there had been more to it than kids making trouble.

"Seems like the place really isn' guarded," Barret murmured as they all lay flat on their stomachs behind the bushes they had first chosen as their hiding place an hour ago.

Riku's body was starting to ache from being in the same position for so long. He shifted a little, focusing again on the factory as Biggs replied from his other side.

"I know. The only people I've seen so far are scientists." Taking up the walkie-talkie they had recently acquired, he continued. "Jesse? Anything on your side?"

"_Nothing," _came her voice, slightly distortedby statics. _"The last person passing was a lab guy, about twenty minutes ago. Want us to return to base?"_

Glancing at Barret, who nodded, Biggs replied.

"Yeah. Surveillance hour is up. It's time to execute the plan."

"_On our way."_

Biggs put down the walkie-talkie and crawled away from the bushes, the others following, and Riku felt a huge wave of relief wash over him as he could finally stand up and stretch his sore muscles. Last time he had been spying on people, he had at least been able to move around the military base on the island. Compared to this, that felt like a holiday.

Cloud was standing with Yuffie and Cid, still looking over the blueprints Yuffie had brought them after leaving Hollow Bastion shortly after the decision to attack had been made. When they had arrived at the factory, she had been waiting, papers in hand and a lab coat dangling over her shoulder. Where she had gotten her hands on that was a mystery to Riku, but he guessed the coat was for disguise when in a few minutes the group would split up.

Everyone was silent, grave. Not a word was uttered until Jesse, Wedge, and Tifa returned from their spying place and Tifa went to Cloud's side.

"Everything seems to be like we thought," she told him quietly. "I guess that means we're ready to go."

"Yes." Cloud met her eyes for a second, his face even more expressionless than usual. "We'll split up into the groups we discussed and enter at the points Cid and I have marked on the map. We checked the locations; they seem eligible and easy to access."

The silence continued as everyone gathered the necessary gear for the mission. Riku felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. He could not help thinking of Jesse's words about her bad feeling, though it was probably just because she, too, was scared of the unknown, the things they could not foresee when they knew so little about the actual current interiors of the place. Nevertheless, Riku convinced himself it would all be fine. AVALANCHE had, after all, probably done even riskier missions and succeeded. This would be no different.

o0o

It was unnervingly easy to get into the factory, Cloud mused as he and Tifa made their way down what must once have been an oblongstore room. It was empty now, but the signs on the walls describing the goods of the past glory of the place remained, dusty and slowly turning a reddish sort of color from the rust that was no longer kept from taking over.

He felt uneasy, though so far he had seen no reason to be. In fact, there had been nothing all evening except what Yuffie had said to expect. Maybe it was simply because it felt weird, somehow, not having to fight your way through a bunch of soldiers or guards. It could be that was the very thing making him anxious, the fact that there seemed to be nothing to be worried about. Yet somehow, Cloud knew that was not the case, no matter how much he wished for it. Because his instincts about danger had not been wrong in a long time.

"The old kitchens should be behind this door, right?" Tifa asked, her voice echoing in the abandoned room. She had made it to the other side of the storeroom, and Cloud did not realize he had stopped dead before her words reached him as she turned around, waiting for him to catch up. Making himself move forward again, he replied.

"Yeah. Assuming they're not being used either, that should be the fastest way to get to the offices in the middle of the factory."

"The ones we're guessing they're using for experiments."

Her comment did not need a reply, and she did not seem to expect one. Instead, she turned back to the door, taking a hold of the handle and turning it. The door swung open, unlocked. Still feeling his heart beat unusually fast in his chest, Cloud took the lead this time, wanting to keep Tifa safely behind him in case someone - or some_thing_ - was waiting for them ahead.

However, there was no one in sight here either. Cloud slowly lowered his sword, his eyes scanning the room once more for any sign of movements, still finding none. The only things visible were what must have been a huge bunch of ovens, enough to prepare meals for every employee once working here. There were three kitchen rooms, Cloud recalled from the blueprints. This must be the first one.

"There's another door over there," he said, gesturing towards the side of the room, almost uncertain he wanted to go through it. Every step they took brought them further away from the exit and closer to whatever was waiting ahead. But even if they were attacked, he would be sure to get everyone out of there alive. He would not let any more of his friends down. Especially not Tifa ...

She went past him as he brought up his sword once more, moving closer to the next door to the unknown, and tried the handle. This time, it was locked. It was the first sign of cautiousness they had experienced in here and Cloud felt certain that meant there was something behind the metal wall. Something prying eyes were not meant to see. Something that may be useful to AVALANCHE.

"Step aside, Tifa," he requested. She obeyed, and as soon as she was out of harm's way, he brought down the Buster Sword, smashing the place where the lock had been moments before, and causing the door to slide open. Catching Tifa's eyes, exchanging a look of awareness, he stepped inside, closely followed by her.

He heard Tifa gasp in surprise, or possibly horror, at what they had found. One thing was for sure, this was no longer a kitchen. The fridges and stoves that may once have filled the room had been removed and replaced by huge lamps standing over what looked like dissection tables - hard metal surfaces, beside each of which a small plate had been put, containing scalpels and other surgical tools Cloud could not recall the names of. He stopped, a blurred memory stirring somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Cloud..." Tifa's voice reached him and he quickly repressed everything but the now. "Look."

Going to her side, he saw what she was looking at. One of the tables were still covered in the red, stiffened fluid that was, without a doubt, blood.

"It must have been used just recently. Oh, Cloud ..." She was shaking slightly, he noticed, and felt an incredible urge to put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, yet something stopped him. Instead, he gently grabbed her hand for a moment, leading her away from the horrible sight.

"Come on. We should get moving."

She followed, and he could tell how she fought to get herself together, succeeding in the end. Tifa was amazing like that. Even if the situation was tough, even if she was scared to death deep down, she was always capable of temporarily pushing away those feelings and focus.

There were two doors in this room. One, Cloud knew, lead to the last kitchen room, the other would take them further into the factory, and he realized he was not sure which one he wanted to take. The goal of their mission was, after all, to find Hojo and capture him, and since no sounds could be heard from the last of the kitchen rooms, they would probably find it empty. Still, they should take a look, just be sure. However, if this place was like the facility Cloud vaguely remembered, he knew what they would find behind that door, and he knew he did not want Tifa to see it, to know, to guess what had happened to him in the years they had been apart. He had only told her what she needed to know because he did not want her to fear him, or pity him, either of which seemed to be the most likely result. So, he decided, they should move on, continue to the rest of the factory.

But Tifa was already at the other door, her hand almost touching the handle. A surge of panic went through Cloud and he stood as frozen to the floor, seeing the horrible moment unravel in front of his eyes...

... until the sound of Cid's voice rose from the walkie-talkie Cloud was carrying in his belt and startled them both, Tifa quickly withdrawing her hand.

_"Cloud, Barret, do you copy? Goddamnit, lads, hurry and pick up them damn walkies! We need backup over here, two rooms from our starting point, what used to be the small production room. Get your asses over here immediately!"_

Sky-blue eyes met hazel ones as Cloud and Tifa stared at each other, the same horrified fear showing in each of their faces. The panic in Cid's voice had been very clear, and Cid never panicked.

"Barret's group should be fairly close to them," Cloud said, not realizing his voice was barely a whisper. "They'll be able to hold off the enemies until we get there. Let's hurry!"

Tifa did not reply, simply nodded, and Cloud flung the door in front of him open, leading the way as they ran through a small corridor and towards the place where Cid's group was currently under attack, praying they would reach them in time, before one of the others was gone forever.

o0o

Barret, Riku, and Jesse had entered through a small entrance close to the main gates which according to the blueprints was supposed to have once led to the laundry room. It seemed, however, as if the Shinra Department had decided to keep this one thing about the old factory intact, because as soon as they opened the door the smell of washing powder met them and made Riku grimace. Washing machines were pulsing away at full power, the loudness of which made Jesse cover her ears.

Barret, however, did not seem much affected by neither sight nor sounds and led the way further into the room, quickly taking down the only employee in the room before the guy could announce their presence to the rest of the building.

"Should we look around?" Jesse asked, sending the machines a doubting gaze.

"I doubt we'll find Hojo hidden behin' the laundry baskets," Barret replied. "Let's move on."

It became clear pretty fast that this part of the factory had not changed at all since the time of its glory. Behind the next door was the room where the wet clothes were transported to dry, and they had to find their way through dozens of lab coats, sheets, tea towels, and the like. When they finally managed to locate the second door and enter through it, they found themselves in what mostly reminded Riku of his parents' old closet, though many times bigger. There were shelves everywhere on the walls, all marked with a description matching the bunch of fabrics and clothes stacked on them.

Riku was just about to say this did not look like the place to find the professor either when suddenly, the door he recalled led to a hallway opened and a guy in a lab coat stepped in. The guy froze at the sight of the intruders, then started towards them.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Who the hell are you? This is arestricted area, and..."

This time, Jesse was the one acting quickly. Pulling out a gun, she immediately aimed and pulled the trigger. The silencer on it did its job well; the scientist fell to the floor, blood running from a wound to his chest, as if it had just appeared there on its own.

"We've been lucky so far," Jesse mumbled. "But we shouldn't let our guard down."

"Never said we should," Barret replied, a twitch of - was that annoyance? Riku wasn't sure. - in his voice, as if Jesse had just blamed him of declaring the whole damn factory safe. "This is where it gets tough."

Getting his gun-arm ready, Barret moved towards the door from which the enemy had appeared, Jesse following close in his wake. Riku, however, looked around at the different shelves, an idea striking him. They were, after all, sneaking in to this place and in situations like that he had come to believe discretion was much more effective than fighting your way through. So why not change tactics while they still had the opportunity?

"Wait," he called, his eyes settling on the description mark he had been searching for. "I've got an idea."

Barret's patience seemed to be running dry already because when he turned to face Riku again, he was clearly at the verge of sneering at him. He managed to contain it, however, and instead raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"If the hallway next door is flooded with scientists like that guy," he nodded towards the man on the ground, "we'll be spotted immediately, and I doubt we'll manage to get to Hojo if we're on the run from a mass of people. I suggest we try blending in with the crowd."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Barret growled.

Instead of replying, Riku simply pointed to the shelf above, a sign saying 'LAB COATS' very visible.

"What?" Barret spluttered. "Like hell I'm dressing up like one of them! That ain't gonna happen!"

"Fine," Riku retorted. "Then _I'll_ just do it and sneak past while you get their attention by bursting in there, yelling insults. Actually, I'm sure that'd be a great help."

"You brat, tryin' to pick a fight?"

"No, I'm just trying to get us somewhere, which is more than I can say for you!"

"Guys!" Jesse stepped between them before anything more than Barret getting completely red in the face could happen, sensing the argument would either lead to an actual fight or the three of them getting discovered. "Stop it! That's not what we're here for, remember? Barret, I don't much feel like dressing as the enemy either, but Riku's got a point, it may get us closer to Hojo than we could get else wise. And the closer we get undetected, the better our chances for getting our hands on him are, right?"

Barret stared at Riku for another long moment, Riku glaring right back at him. Then the big man sighed.

"Fine," he said. "But only as long as it's absolutely necessary!"

Feeling incredibly smug about having won this argument, Riku turned back to the shelves with a smirk and reached for the coats. But just as he had managed to find one a size that may fit him, Cid's voice sounded from the walkie Barret was carrying in his pocket.

_"Cloud, Barret, do you copy? Goddamnit, lads, hurry and pick up them damn walkies! We need backup over here, two rooms from our starting point, what used to be the small production room. Get your asses over here immediately!"_

All three of them froze and looked at each other for a fraction of a second as Cid's words made a shiver run down Riku's spine. Then Barret spun around, sprinting towards a door to their left which Riku recalled from the map lead to a hallway that used to be a stocking room as well as the main entrance. Hesitating only for a moment, he followed, Jesse right behind him. As Barret burst through the door, the others at his heels, he grabbed the walkie-talkie and yelled into it.

"Cid? Cid, you old dump, you there? We're on our way, so keep fightin' or I swear I'll kill ya myself!"

_"'Bout damn time! We've run into what's looking like a guard machine an' it's a goddamn lot stronger than those weaklings we've-"_

Something rattled and his voice disappeared.

"Cid?" Barret called. "Cid?"

But there was no reply. Riku bit his lip, pulling out the sword Cloud had given him, and sped up. He knew they were only two rooms away, yet all of a sudden that seemed like a damn lot of space between them and whatever was attacking their friends. Silence rung amongst the three rebels as they headed for the next door, flung it open to find a small space crammed with lockers - some of which seemed to be currently in use - and burst through yet another door at the other side of the cloakroom to arrive at what used to be the small production room.

What he saw made Riku freeze for a second and he just stood there right inside the door and took in the scene while Barret and Jesse went past him, getting to the aid of Cid and Biggs who both looked hurt but otherwise alive and kicking. However, as Riku's eyes searched for Wedge, he saw him lying on the floor, unmoving, in a blood of pool that may be flowing from his head, though it was hard to tell due to the amount of it. Riku had seen death before, had been more than close to it, but this was different. Wedge could not be dead. This was AVALANCHE, the rebel group brave enough to do what the government had never mustered, standing up to the oppressors ... They were tough, they couldn't just fall to the ground!

Running past the fighters, Riku went for Wedge, wanting to get him out of the way before the huge machine crushed him with one of its wheels, wanting to stop the blood before the blood-loss got to severe ... But he did not get that far as suddenly a gate opened, revealing two more guard machines heading towards them.

"Split up!" called Cid, and, seeing Riku looking at Wedge's body, added, "Ain't nothing you can do for him, kiddo. He's dead. Better leave so we won't all end up like that!"

Dead ... The truth of it hit Riku hard, though he knew he should have been prepared for it. Next second, Jesse had grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her as the group did as Cid had suggested and split up. Riku quickly got himself together and followed her up a small metal stairway to a long platform leading to the upper offices. He knew instinctively that there was no way the machines would be able to follow them here, but Jesse kept running anyway and did not stop until Riku grabbed hold of her wrist and made her.

"They can't get us here!" he reminded her.

Jesse collapsed, shaking, her breathing heavy, and Riku realized she was crying. For Wedge, he guessed. It was as if her loss of control made him regain his composure. There would be time for grieving later, he knew. Right now, they had to find the others and get the hell out of this place because they had clearly been discovered, and finding Hojo could not be worth the price of losing more friends.

"Come on," he urged Jesse, helping her to her feet. "We've gotta get going. We can't go back so we've gotta find another exit and meet up with the others. Right?"

She nodded and took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"Right," she whispered as she wiped off her tears. "Right. Everyone's smart. They'll be waiting outside. They'll be okay."

"Yeah," Riku agreed though he wasn't all that sure now that reality had taken a hold of him. They could only hope for the best and work on surviving themselves.

They started down the metal platform. As they walked, Riku glanced down through the grille-like floor of it and knew they must be right above the main production room. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out what the enemies down there were producing as very few of the people moving around at the machines were wearing lab coats. It seemed the coats still back at the laundry would not have been much help after all. Noticing the assembly line and the parts on it, Riku wondered whether the kind of weapons they had just fought may be the thing they were working on. He suddenly felt an enormous urge to set the whole place on fire. Or blow it up. The latter would probably be the most effective, anyway.

He was deep in thought when suddenly a piercing scream wrenched him back to reality. Jesse paled, and before Riku could stop her, she sped past him, calling "_Biggs!_" in a voice so desperate it made Riku's heart hurt, and he knew he must go after her, even though they were probably about to run straight into danger again. The scream had seemed to come from somewhere in the rooms they had almost reached. Biggs must have taken the stairway too while Riku had been too busy dealing with the fact that Wedge was dead to notice. Jesse reached the door and wrenched it open.

The weird thing about the room, Riku noticed as he caught up to her, was how it resembled a child's room. The bed with brightly colored sheets had teddy bears everywhere on it, and the shelves were filled with toys, some of which were currently on the floor. However, the teddy bears were all torn, the toy ruined as well, as though somebody very strong and very angry had abused it all. The feel of the place made a shiver run down his spine and he suddenly knew with perfect certainty that something was off, something horrible was going to happen.

He took all this in in a few seconds. Then he noticed the bloody body on the floor. So did Jesse, and she flung herself at it, shaking it.

"Biggs!" she cried. "_Biggs!_"

But he did not respond, did not open his eyes, did not move even the slightest except for the way Jesse's shaking made his head roll. Terrified, Riku crouched down next to the pair of them, feeling sick at the way something had cut open Biggs' chest, slashed his face, and almost ripped off his ear ... Jesse burst into heavy sobs and, ignoring the blood pouring from the wounds, she pressed her face against her boyfriend's chest, screaming in agony. Riku closed his eyes and tried very hard to keep himself calm. He could not lose it now, not before he had gotten Jesse and himself out of this place, out of harm's way ... Yet the way they had lost first Wedge, now Biggs, were so terrible ...

A sound suddenly alerted him to the fact that they were not alone in the room, and he jumped up, brandishing his sword against the figure in the corner who stepped forwards at once. It was a boy, maybe a few years younger than Sora. His hair was brown and ruffled, his eyes a pleasant shade of green, and he was dressed in what looked mostly like a white night dress or hospital gown. He would have seemed just an innocent kid if it wasn't for the malice in his eyes and the blood all over him, blood most likely originating from Biggs.

"Jesse!" Riku called. "Jesse, get up, we've gotta run..."

But she didn't listen, just kept crying, cradling her dead boyfriend in her arms. Riku turned his gaze back towards the stranger, every inch of his body telling him that this was an enemy he may not be able to compete against, even though the only weapon the boy held was a small knife, dripping red on to the floor. Riku held up his sword, ready to strike, and as the kid took another step forwards, Riku ran at him.

Then everything went terribly fast. A strange force seeming to come from nowhere hit him, sending him flying into the table standing against the wall, almost knocking him unconscious. Groaning, he tried to focus, tried to get up as the enemy moved towards Jesse, but it was too late. The knife went through her neck, and as her body went stiff, the boy laughed and began tearing at her hair, pulling back the knife for yet another strike and yet another strike ...

When he finally let go of Jesse, she slumped down on to the floor and stayed there, unmoving except for the flowingblood. Barely unable to take his eyes off the terrible sight of the two bodies on the floor, Riku fought to remain conscious as he picked up his sword and moved sideways, determined to try for the door before the monster decided he wanted to play with the last intruder as well. He did not get very far, however, before the boy got up and turned to meet Riku's eyes with a grin on his mouth Riku knew he would always remember. He had never seen anyone look so evil.

The boy started slowly towards him, apparently sure he could take his time with this last one. Riku's heart beat frantically as he stepped towards the door, ready to run like hell before the monster got a hold of him. He had never been this scared in his life, not even when the soldiers had attacked Destiny Islands. That had been completely different; the soldiers had not maimed their victims like this kid seemed to enjoy. He reached for the handle, finally within reach of it, but before he could turn it the boy was at his side, hand on Riku's arm, and Riku once again found himself flung towards the wall, this time hitting a shelf, broken toys raining down upon him. Yet somehow he managed to still keep a hold on the sword from Cloud, the only thing to defend himself with against this monster.

The boy was watching him as he struggled to get up, head crooked slightly to one side, as if watching an interesting animal. Riku knew there was a very big chance he would soon end up like Biggs and Jesse, yet he would at least go down fighting. He got to his feet, body aching, and raised the sword again. The boy just smiled and walked towards him. Riku stayed still, waiting for the right moment. Then, as the boy finally came within reach, Riku struck at him, his blade grazing the monster's arm as he moved away. The eyes now meeting Riku's seemed to fill with darkness as the boy noticed the injury and snarled.

Sword met knife, and Riku had to face the fact that the enemy had strength he did not. Still, he kept going, somehow managing to avoid serious injury as the knife brushed first one part of his body, then another. He was being forced back against a wall again and knew this would be it, this would be the end...

... Then the door was flung open, and in a matter of seconds, the monster in front of him had been sliced down, falling to the floor with a dull sound. Shaking, Riku slid down into a sitting position, staring first at the body in front of him, then up at his savior. It was Cloud.

"Can you stand?" he asked, and when Riku nodded slowly, he helped him get up.

"Biggs... Jesse..." Riku managed to say. "They're... He, it... killed them."

Glancing over at the bodies of his friends, Riku saw that they were partly covered in the toys that had fallen off the shelves and felt a weird urge to free them, to at least make it look like they had died with dignity. Tifa got there first. Even though she looked like she was about to be sick and had tears rolling down her face, she picked up the blanket from the bed and gently threw it over Jesse and Biggs.

"Where are the others?" Cloud wanted to know and there was something in his eyes Riku had not seen there before, though in his current state of mind he could not think what it was.

"I don't know," he replied, voice almost nothing but a hoarse whisper. "We got separated. No, I mean, we split up. Cid's group was being attacked by some sort of guard machines. When we reached them, it had already gotten Wedge ... We split up as two more of the machines appeared."

Cloud let go of Riku's arm and turned on the spot.

"I need to find them," he said and was about to walk out the door when Tifa grabbed his wrist.

"No." Her voice was shaking slightly, but clear and as determined as her hazel eyes. "Cloud, don't do this. Don't go out there alone and leave us behind! Don't you remember? We were supposed to head for the exit should anything go wrong, and that's what we're going to do! The others aren't stupid, Cloud, they'll be doing exactly the same. Our chances of finding them at the rendezvous point are a lot bigger than if we run around in here, trying to fight a lost battle!"

A long silence followed her words. Then Cloud reached for the door handle again, but Tifa placed herself in front of him now and her eyes were blazing as she looked up into his face, her calm yet firm resolution showing in every feature of her body.

"Don't leave me again."

Her voice was low, words close to a whisper, and Riku was not sure he was even supposed to have heard them. Cloud lowered his gaze and another silence arose. When Cloud finally broke it, the tone in his voice was hard to judge, but the desperation and fury it had contained a little while ago had gone. Tifa looked relieved and went to support Riku as they found their way towards the nearest exit. They had to fight their way past a guard machine, but they got there in the end.

Riku had a hard time staying conscious as they made their way up the hillside, hidden from view by the trees. It felt as if the further they walked, the more cloudy his surroundings became, and still his thoughts kept going back to what had happened in that room at the end of the platform. Had that boy, he wondered, been subjected to Hojo's experiments? Had he been injected with Darkness? Was this what Cloud had meant when he had said Darkness made people surrender to their desire to kill?

Yuffie was the first one to greet them as they reached the rendezvous point.

"Cloud, what happened? Oh my god, Riku, you look terrible! Barret and Cid are back, and I heard about Wedge, that's horrible!" And she really did seem very pained by the thought. "As soon as Biggs and Jesse get here, let's head back, we gotta treat the wounded and..."

"They're not coming back." Cloud's voice made Yuffie fall silent at once. The blonde went past the shocked spy and headed for the place they had parked the van. "Let's go before they realize we're no longer in the building and start searching the surrounding area."

Slowly, quietly, they all followed, each trying to digest the sad reality of their losses. Cid took over from Tifa and supported Riku with a strong arm, the burned cigarette in his mouth forgotten. When they drove towards Midgar, Riku cast one last glance back towards the place where the factory stood and knew now that he was no longer fighting only for his friends - he was fighting to bring down Shinra who supported such cruelty as the Darkness experiments. And he would keep going until the end, he swore to himself. Even if it meant laying down his life in the process.


	9. Wutai

**Chapter 9: Wutai**

"_You do not want a war.  
You have known violence.  
You have suffered loss.  
But you have seen nothing of war.  
War is not just the business of death.  
It is the antithesis of life.  
Hope, tortured and flayed.  
Reason, dismembered, grinning at its limbs in its lap.  
Decency raped to death.  
You will be a murderer.  
And more."  
- Urkonn to Melaka, "Fray" (2003)_

Death was a reality. They all knew it. Most of them had faced that fact for years. So how come it still hurt as much as it did? The remainders of what was AVALANCHE returned to Hollow Bastion, each and everyone feeling that same black hole inside them that felt as if it was killing them as well, yet no one talked about it. For what was there to talk about? They had lost them for good. Jesse, Biggs and Wedge. They were all gone, and they couldn't even give them a proper funeral because they'd had to leave their bodies at the Shinra once-factory building. They couldn't even do that much for them. Their comrades.

Their friends.

Barret went upstairs the moment he'd crossed the threshold, slamming doors as he went. Riku heard the sound of metal hitting the floor as the hinges of one fell off, but he barely registered it. He knew he had lost consciousness more than a few times during their ride back and everything was still fuzzy. But fuzzy was good, he thought. Then he didn't have to face his despair, his fury ...

His helplessness.

As Cid helped Riku get down onto the couch, they could hear yelling and snarling from upstairs, mixed with the sound of furniture meeting the wall. No one left to check. They all knew it was Barret, trying to cope with his feelings, and no one wanted to interfere.

They all had their own fears to handle first.

Cid barked something, maybe it was an order of some kind, and Yuffie left the room for a minute or so - Riku found it hard to judge how long it took for her to return, but when she did she had brought their first aid kit and other medical supplies. She sat down next to Riku and began pulling out stuff, keeping busy, but Riku could see how her hands shook slightly.

Cid took a moment to properly inspect Riku's wounds, then left Yuffie to treat them.

"At least _you'll_ be okay, kiddo," he mumbled before he stood, and as their eyes met, Riku noticed for the first time the fact that the mechanic had also gotten himself a couple of scratches, one just above his eye. Had whoever his opponent been hit just a bit lower Cid would have probably gone blind. The thought came to him suddenly, from somewhere in the back of his mind, and Riku closed his eyes to try and keep that kind of thoughts away. Better to think of nothing at all now than the battles he had witnessed.

The battles he had been a part of. The battles that had shown him just how little he knew, about fighting, about their enemies ...

About rebelling.

But he was part of it now and there was no turning back. Hell, he didn't _want_ to turn back. He wanted to make Shinra pay for what he'd done. All of it. The war, the Darkness ...

The deaths. All of them. But first and foremost, Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge's deaths.

"We need to make a plan," Cid was saying, a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He took a long drag on it before continuing, sounding graver than Riku had ever heard him. "I suggest we get the hell outta here, leave town for a while, less Barret's bound to do somethin' stupid and I ain't ready to face one more loss if we fail to stop him. Only question is, where'll we go?"

Everyone was silent for a while. Then Yuffie, apparently having been deep in thought, stood and faced the mechanic.

"We can go to my place," she suggested, and there was none of the hyperness left in her voice. "Little Wutai. It's plenty away from Midgar and in the woods, well hidden. Only someone who knows the place will be able to get in - or out, for that matter. We should be safe there for a while. Every one of us."

As she added the last sentence, she glanced towards the door to the hallway and the staircase leading upstairs. Then she looked back at Cid, awaiting his answer. It was strange, Riku thought, weren't Cloud usually the one making this sort of decision? So why was Yuffie referring to Cid for a reply? Then he realized Cloud hadn't said a word since they had gotten into the car back at the factory and Riku immediately let his dazed gaze glide across the room, trying to find the man.

And he did. Cloud was sitting in an armchair, staring at nothing but air. There was something in his expression, as if he wasn't even really there, as if his mind had left him temporarily. Tifa was in the chair next to his, watching him with deeply concerned eyes. For a moment it seemed to Riku as if neither of them had heard any of the conversation that had been going on, but then Tifa spoke.

"I agree. We should go. As soon as evening falls we'll take the cars and go. Everyone needs to be ready by then." She stood and went to Cloud's side, bending down beside him, voice close to a whisper. "Come on, Cloud. We've gotta pack."

Cloud stood as if automatically and went with her out the door. The moment it closed behind them, Yuffie turned to Cid once more and in her eyes as well concern for the blonde was clear.

"Cid, what's wrong with him?" she asked, her voice shaking just slightly with something more than worry. Was it fear? Concern? Despair? Whatever it was, there was a lot of it. "Why's he like that?"

"I fear he's broken," the man replied silently. "This might've been more than he could take. Guy's been through a lot before he got here; probably seen the wrong side of hell or worse. Though he never said anythin' 'bout it, I can tell. Poor lad. First we lost Aerith, now Wedge, Jesse, and Biggs. But he's gotta get through it. He hafta. We need him."

He said something more, but it was all a blur.

Then Riku lost consciousness for a while.

o0o

When he awoke, he felt good enough to stand. No one was with him. He figured they were all busy packing. But Riku didn't have any valuablesto pack and clothes he could easily stuff into a bag. He wondered shortly where they had put his sword when they got back. If he had been able to, he would have liked to do a couple of rounds in the backyard because feeling better meant being able to think properly again and he still most of all wanted to forget. Unconsciousness had been a blessing keeping the pain in his heart from getting to him. Now, it was attacking at full power.

Slowly, he made his way to the backyard. He had to stop a few times in the hallway to lean against the wall, but miraculously, no one went past him while he walked and so in the end he could push open the door and step out into the sand. Breathing heavily, he slumped down against the wall and looked up at the plate above him. The plate of misery.

More pain tore at him as he suddenly recalled the conversation he had had with Jesse the night before. She'd had a bad feeling about the mission. If only he had listened then, instead of just going along with the plan. If only she had spoken her doubts to everyone, not just to him, or if only he had managed to relay them to the others ... If only. Yeah, there were a lot of 'if onlys' and none of them would do Jesse, Wedge, and Biggs any good now. It was too late.

"Damnit!" Riku slammed his fist against the sand and a few salty drops hit right next to it, leaving the small spot of ground darker. He didn't try to stop the tears from coming. Right now, there was no one to see them, after all. The only witness was the fence around him and it would tell no one.

It was funny. Back on Destiny Islands, he recalled, he had so longed for some action, for something to _happen_, something to shake him out of an existence where all he could do was hide. Even when he joined the rebels, that longing had still been there. But now he realized how stupid he had been. It had all felt like a game. None of the heroes would get hurt and he would take down the bad guys one by one until none was left and their country would be free. How stupid he had been. How childish. Rebelling wasn't a game. Nowhere near. It was a pain-filled reality, but one he himself had chosen. And he would see it through.

"What are ye doing out here?" Cid's voice sounded. Riku looked up and found him standing next to the door, cigarette once more in his hand. "Needed some fresh air? Well, as fresh as it gets around here, anyway."

"Yeah," Riku replied, trying to casually wipe his cheeks.

If Cid noticed anything, he didn't say.

"Just be careful you don't catch a cold," was his only words before going back inside.

Riku stayed for a little while longer. Then he, too, went back in. After all, he still had stuff to pack and some of the others might need a hand with theirs. He might as well make himself useful as much as his battered body allowed.

o0o

Little Wutai really was – as Yuffie had described it on their way there – in the very heart of the forest. Though it had only one storey, the tree hut still managed to offer plenty of space for six people, with several rooms left empty. The ninja girl told them it used to be a Wutai stronghold during the Wutai war years past, a secret base behind enemy lines for warriors of her country to operate from, but now it was rarely ever used except for the few times travelers settled down here for a night or two, not wanting to pay for expensive night lodgings. Riku had a feeling there was more to it, but he didn't say. Here in the silence of the woods he had finally been able to find just a small moment of peace. It wasn't quite Destiny Islands, but it was probably the closest thing to it on the main land and it calmed him somehow.

Standing on the wooden terrace overlooking the small garden area behind the house he thought back on their journey from Hollow Bastion. They had left as soon as night had fallen, careful to blend in with the rest of the busy Midgar traffic, all of them praying they would not be stopped by a soldier patrol of some kind. Crossing the invisible border to the wastelands he recalled breathing a sigh of relief. At least there they would be safe for Shinra's people, if only for a day or two before they would have to stop at another city to buy supplies.

After three days of travelling they had made it to the forest. The van they had parked in the outskirts of it, covering it with leaves and the like to hide it from unwanted eyes, and then they had walked for what seemed like at least an hour before finally arriving at Yuffie's treasured place. Now, four days later, they had settled in and a sort of everyday life had emerged, though the darkness of loss clearly was still upon them all. Especially Cloud had been quiet. Riku had only seen him at the evening meals.

"Whatcha doing out here, kiddo?" Cid's voice sounded and the man came to stand next to Riku, looking out at the forest as well.

"Nothing much," he replied. "Just enjoying the clean air."

"Yeah." Cid lighted his cigarette. "Don't get a whole lotta that in Midgar, huh? Still, I like finding myself in the company of machines. This here forest-thing could never be permanent for me."

"I like it," Riku declared. "Destiny Islands had the same feeling of freedom. Even with soldiers roaming it there was always somewhere you could hide and make your own."

Cid took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled slowly, smoke forming in the air above his head, rising with the soft wind towards the sky they could barely see for the treetops. They both watched it soar, silent for a while. Then Cid took another drag and spoke again.

"So that's what ye did?"

"Yeah." Riku nodded, recalling the home they had made. "We had a cave we used to play in, my friends and I. That's where we went when the first invaders blew up the new city mall. We were doing just fine on our own for months, except it's tough to really gather enough food for three when you don't have any real hunting tools. So I broke into the military base. That's when they caught me."

"You broke into the military base?" The older man raised an eyebrow. "Boy, ye really do have nerve, kid. Not many would dare, far as I know. "

"Well, it didn't do me much good, did it?" Riku was surprised to find how bitter his voice sounded. He hadn't realized it still bothered him that much. "I failed. I didn't bring my friends any food, and I didn't get back to them. I can't protect them anymore."

Again, Cid took a while to reply. When he finally did, his gaze was once more on the sky.

"Can I ask you one more question, kid?"

"Sure …"

"They be your reason for fighting this war?"

"Yes."

"And you haven't given up on the rebellion?"

"Of course not! We've gotta stop Hojo!"

"Then how can you say you can't protect 'em? Ye're still fighting to get 'em their freedom, ain't ya? To me, that's protection as well, just a different sort. We may lose people on the way, but we're all still aimin' for that same goal we had when we first began: to protect and free the country." Another moment of silence. Then, "Ya know, a young girl taught me as long as you're fightin' with a pure intent to someday be able to stop, that same fightin' may not be that bad. She was always praying for this country to someday finally be truly at peace and she damn well believed it may be."

"Who was she? The girl?"

Cid took a long drag on his cigarette and did not say anything for so long that Riku started to think the man had not heard him. Then, finally, when Riku was just about to let it go and leave him with his thoughts, Cid spoke.

"Her name was Aerith. She was a very extraordinary flower girl from the Midgar slums."

Aerith ... The name seemed familiar, yet Riku could not recall where he had heard it before.

Cid continued.

"It's a long story, kid. Who she was."

"I've got time."

"You're right." There was a faint smile on the man's lips as he replied. "You're right. We've got nothing _but_ time in this jungle of trees. All righ' then, I'll tell ya what I know. But keep in mind I didn't know her from the beginning of this mess we've all gotten ourselves into. I haven't been fightin' as long as some of 'em in there."

Riku nodded and Cid began the story.

"After the war was settled, people began disappearin' from the slums in Midgar. When the number of missing people grew, AVALANCHE was formed because Barret an' Tifa found out it was Shinra arresting people for no good reasons. Of course, that ain't nothin' new - Shinra's always been like that - but they looked into it and found out about the Darkness experiments and decided they needed to fight. They made quite a ruckus, they did, so when I joined them I was surprised to find they were only seven people - Barret, Cloud, Tifa, Jesse, Wedge, Biggs... and Aerith.

"She was always a sweet girl. Whenever someone got hurt, she'd treat their wounds and they'd heal faster than what's usual 'bout such things. Smaller scratches she barely had to touch and they'd go away, bigger wounds she instinctively knew how to treat. Extraordinary, that she really was, and so calm we all praised ourselves lucky she was there when things got tight.

"Then one day, we ran into Sephiroth."

At this, Riku's eyes widened.

"Wait, Sephiroth? _The _Sephiroth? The former SOLDIER who died four years ago?"

"Oh, he ain't dead, kid." Cid's gaze darkened. "That was somethin' Shinra made people believe when he disappeared without a trace after slaughterin' and burnin' the whole village of Nibelheim."

For a moment, Riku barely knew how to react. After Cloud had told him about AVALANCHE's true purpose back in Midgar he had thought nothing else would be left that could surprise him, at least nothing serious. But this... He remembered hearing about the Nibelheim incident on the news one day; the reporter had said it was a terrible accident, that a power station had tragically exploded due to a broken gas line. There had been no survivors ...

"That's not what they told the public," he mumbled. "What else is Shinra hiding?"

"The fact that Sephiroth returned about three months after the war ended after having been gone for four years. A lot of the explosions that's happened since? We get blamed, but it wasn't us all of 'em. Only the Shinra-related ones. The rest... Well, let's just say it seems Sephiroth's decided it's time to do some more damage. We don't know why he went quiet for years, but we have a pretty good idea why he went crazy in the first place - turns out the first ones Hojo experienced on were his top soldiers. And if Shinra's hidin' even more secrets than what we've seen so far I wouldn't be surprised," Cid replied.

Riku had to take a moment to digest the facts Cid had just told him. So Sephiroth, who had once been proclaimed a hero for his skills with a sword and for what he had accomplished in the war with Wutai, was insane and dangerous and _out there_. It was a scary thought and Riku had to repress a shudder.

"But what's Sephiroth got to do with Aerith?"

"I've been asking myself that same question a couple months now," Cid said. "Still haven't found the answer. But apparently, there _was_ some kind of connection because the moment he saw her he started huntin' us. And when the greatest warrior of the country's hunting you, you run."

"He's better than Cloud?"

"He's better than all of us combined. A sad fact. In the end, he caught up to us... and he killed her." Again, Cid's eyes darkened, this time clouded by a mist of grief. "Aerith died and we couldn't do a damn thing. And now we've lost Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge as well. They've all given their life for the same damn cause we're still fightin' for. So we just can't stop now, can we?"

And Riku knew he was right. If they stopped, the deaths of their friends would have all been in vain.

"No. We can't."

o0o

The things Cid had told him were still on Riku's mind when later they gathered for dinner in the smaller living room of Little Wutai. There wasn't much to eat given the fact that they were now living off the rations they had brought from the city, but it would have to suffice. Riku, still somewhat used to the almost nothing that had been his daily meal on Destiny Islands, found it to be more than enough.

Most other days, the little group would break up after they had eaten to go do each their own thing. Yuffie would usually disappear into a small room at the very back of the house where a shrine to the Wutai deity was placed, a god she called Leviathan. When Riku had once caught her on her knees before it, she had declared she definitely didn't usually pray, but that after everything that had happened lately, she felt like it couldn't hurt. Then she'd tossed him out of the room and slammed the door.

Riku looked around at the other members of the group. Barret, still looking grave, had gotten calmer as the days had passed and had only once tried to find a way through the woods. As Yuffie had predicted, he couldn't, and she had brought him back to Little Wutai after locating him somewhere west of the place. Cid and the ninja girl were having a quiet conversation, and Tifa was watching Cloud with an expression Riku couldn't quite read. The blonde wasn't eating much, as had been the case the other days. Even if their servings were small, there were always leftovers on his plate when they were done.

There was nothing unusual about this evening. Until Tifa stood, very sudden, placed her hands on her hips, and looked at Cloud.

"Let's go for a walk," she said.

Cloud blinked and stared at her for a while, surprised. Then he got up, left the rest of his meal, and followed her out the door.

Everyone else was quiet for a very long time, all staring equally bewildered at the door closing behind the two.

"What was that about?" Yuffie exclaimed.

No one replied, but Riku noticed the faint smile on Cid's face.

o0o

They had walked for a while when Tifa finally spoke. The quiet had been unnerving, somehow, though it usually wasn't. He didn't know what to expect. Was this the time she would tell him she thought it was his fault, everything that had happened? He had seen in her eyes before that it had been true - at least for her - when she told him it wasn't, but what if she'd changed her mind? What if she'd realized just how useless he was, how pathetic? He had expected it, and yet he was not prepared for it at all.

"You're thinking of leaving, aren't you?"

Surprised yet again, Cloud met her beautiful hazel eyes. As always, it was as if they looked right through him.

"... What?" he asked.

They stood there for a while, eyes locked. Then she nodded curtly.

"I knew it. You are."

He looked down and started walking again.

"It would be better. For all of us." _For you._

She followed and quickly caught up to him, placed herself in front of him to stop him from going any further.

"Why? Why do you think that, Cloud? I don't want you to go."

_You should. I'm not safe to be around. Eventually, you'll be targeted too, and it'll be my fault. If I leave, no one else will get hurt, no one else will die because I'm not strong enough to save them. The Darkness seems to follow me wherever I go ..._

He wanted to say it out loud, to tell her what a danger he was. But he couldn't. She would despise him if she knew what he really was. Better to hurt her by keeping it secret than to see her look at him with disgust.

"It's my choice."

"You think it's your fault," she declared. "You think it's your fault again, and now you're gonna leave us to fight on our own because you need to wallow in your self-pity somewhere. That's not how it works, Cloud!"

Her gaze pierced him as she went on,

"Do you really think it's easier alone? Do you truly believe you'll get better away from us? It's like whatever fight you're fighting isn't the same one we are. Well, fine! You can fight your battle, but you won't do it without me! Ever since Aerith died, I've been trying to make you see that we're all on the same side. Now, I don't wanna leave, but if you're going, I'm coming with you - and that's final!"

It was as if her words echoed around them among the trees for a while after she'd stopped speaking and the way she looked at him told him she was serious. A part of him was afraid... and a part of him was grateful. She was always supporting him. He didn't know how he would have survived without her after Zack's death. She was so beautiful and he knew he didn't deserve her. But she never ceased to believe in him. She kept amazing him that way.

But this was not a matter of question.

"Tifa, you're not..."

"Oh yes, I am!" she interrupted, knowing full well he was going to protest. Then her almost-glare turned into a smile. "I already told you, it's final. If you leave, I'm leaving too. I won't let you face this alone. And don't think I won't notice it if you try to sneak past me!"

There was a sweet mocking in her last sentence and Cloud caught himself almost smiling for the first time since the mission at the old factory. He knew that look in her eyes all too well, even remembered it from back in Nibelheim when they had been nothing but children. Tifa was stubborn; that was another thing he admired about her. She never gave in. And she wouldn't on this subject either.

So he gave up. After all, if she really _was_ going to follow him if he left, look for him if he decided to disappear, he better stay. Because she was safer here where there were other people around. Much safer than she would be alone with him, anyway.

Tifa could sense she had won the argument when Cloud sighed. She knew it was only a matter of time before he would bring up the subject again, but at least she seemed to have eased his mind for now, if nothing else just a little bit, and a little bit was better than nothing. It was a start.

"Let's go back," she suggested and took his hand for a second to lead him in the right direction.

She couldn't tell, but Cloud's heart skipped a beat at that. He loved her. If only he could tell her how much he loved her. But that was impossible when danger was always around, just waiting to tear them all apart.

Just waiting.


	10. Encounter

**Chapter 10: Encounter**

A short while after Cloud had gone back to being a part of their conversations, Riku noticed that Yuffie started spending a lot of time away from the hut and he had a feeling something was about to happen. The day the ninja spy came back very enthusiastically waving her arms around like crazy with a huge smile on her face he knew he had been right.

They gathered in the dining room, placing themselves at one end of the large table obviously meant for more than just five people, and Yuffie started talking. As she did so, she pulled out a map and put it before them, straightening it as best she could after the time it had spent folded in her backpack.

"This," she exclaimed proudly, "is the military base at the city of Kalm and this," another piece of paper joined it on the table, "is the exact number of soldiers and officials residing in it, complete with descriptions of their store rooms and what they've usually got in there. However, the thing is, this Friday they'll have twice the supplies there as they'll be shipping some to Destiny Islands on Saturday!"

"Destiny Islands?" Riku blinked.

"Yes," Yuffie went on, not noticing the tone of surprise in his voice. "The base over there is sort of beginning to run on the last reserves, what with the recent storms more or less cutting off all ships heading for it. They'll be needing both food and meds, and it's Shinra's job to provide them with it. Which means this is our chance of striking again!"

Riku heard her words as if far away. So there had been storms lately ... He knew how bad they could get on Destiny Islands. Hopefully Sora and Kairi had remembered to stay inside the cave during the worst parts of them because going out into the woods would have also meant putting themselves in danger of falling branches and whole trees tumbling down and without a working hospital nearby to treat them such trauma could easily be fatal.

Caught up in thoughts he did not really hear much else of what Yuffie was saying until one sentence caught his attention:

"No, actually I got the idea from Cid," she said. "He suggested we took into consideration the amount of stuff the military keep to themselves and how best to get a hold of it. I mean, military bases not located in, you know, actual enemy territory aren't all that guarded because who would be stupid enough to attack a place filled with soldiers and the like?"

"Except for us." Cloud grimaced. "Like we did some time ago."

"But that was only because of Hojo," Tifa pointed out. "Apart from that, we've never been anywhere near the bases. There's no reason for Shinra to believe we will be, except if he plans on sending Hojo there and if that was the case, Yuffie would've already told us. Right?"

The ninja spy noddedvigorously.

"Speakin' of supplies, we're running low as well," Barret grumbled. "This would be a good chance to stuck up on 'em."

"And kick some Shinra ass at the same time!" Yuffie replied with a huge grin on her face.

"Yes." Barret's eyes glowed ominously. "That especially, yeah."

o0o

Four days. Four days before they would leave Little Wutai and head for the military base. Now that they had finally decided on getting started with the rebellion again four days felt like eternity. Riku felt restless, felt his body surging with expectation. Sitting back here, among the trees, had been nice and quiet and calming for a while but he also knew that staying hidden like this was no way to get their revenge against Shinra.

And it would be a revenge. At least, it would be the beginning of one. He knew at that moment that he would not care how many people he would have to kill to accomplish their task, even if he had never killed before. These people, these soldiers guarding their base, were all in the pocket of Shinra and thereby a part of the power that allowed him to continue his experiments with Darkness; the experiments that had led to the deaths of Jesse, Wedge, and Biggs. Therefore, they were all at fault and all their enemies.

Every time his restlessness got the better of him, Riku went outside and found a spot to practice his swordsmanship. For a moment, standing there training among the trees with no company but his own, Riku could imagine being back at Destiny Islands, even though the trees were not palms and the wind was not warm. But that was only for a moment. As soon as his thoughts started creeping back into his mind, he knew his days on Destiny Islands were far away and something he could never return to. He had been so innocent then; hell, all three of them had been. They might have seen death, but they had not really known what it was like. He prayed that Sora and Kairi would stay innocent like that for as long as possible. He would be the one to bear the scars of the battle for all three of them, if he could.

At one point Cloud joined him. Though the man was still as silent as ever at least the haunted look was gone from his eyes, Riku noticed. Gazing at him while they each stood there, training, Riku knew Cloud's wish for revenge must be even greater than his own. After all, Cloud - and the rest of AVALANCHE - also had Shinra's experiments to blame for Aerith's dead.

Neither of them really spoke during the training session. It wasn't until they stopped to go inside because it was getting late and soon too dark to actually see what you were doing that Cloud turned towards Riku.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow at two o'clock. We should reach Kalm within two days which will give us plenty of time to scope the perimeter around the Kalm base, to check that nothing unexpected will take us by surprise."

Riku nodded, then realized Cloud may not be able to see it in the growing darkness of the forest.

"Sounds like a good idea. When will we hit the base?"

"As soon as we're sure there's nothing to worry about but soldiers," Cloud replied, sheathing his sword. "I expect you to be ready. If someone attacks you, don't stop to think twice. We don't have time to deal with anything but the mission."

Was he indicating that he did not believe Riku had the guts for killing, even if it was necessary? Or was he mocking him with his inexperience of battle still, even after what they had been through together so far? It might be that Cloud had been doing this for way longer than he had, but that did not mean Riku would accept being supposedly inferior.

"I know that," he replied, his voice cool. "I'm also not stupid enough to let an enemy go if it would jeopardize the mission so don't even start."

Cloud met his eyes, an inscrutable look in the sky-blue gaze. Riku didn't flinch, neither did he look away. They stood there for a while, each watching the other. Finally, Cloud was the one to break the tension of the moment.

"Killing's not always the solution," he said as he moved towards the house. "Sometimes, sparing a life is better than taking one."

Riku blinked and stood watching him go until the blonde had disappeared inside the house, pondering his words. Why was he telling him that now?

o0o

The Kalm base was not big, Cloud had told Riku on the way. However, when he saw it, he had to reconsider his definition of how a "small" base looked like because it was definitely bigger than the one on Destiny Islands. The group split up to do some reconnaissance, then met back up half an hour later. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal.

Yuffie met up with them a few minutes later, informing them that the goods had arrived. She had left Little Wutai a day before the rest of them in order to make sure the supplies they were planning to steal were actually on base; otherwise, the whole mission would be utterly pointless except for dealing out a few wounds here and there. Just like last time she would stay out of sight in order for her to not blow her cover; she had dealings with several soldiers when she was out as a spy and could not risk one of them suddenly recognizing her from a rebel mission as that would endanger her and thereby the information network that AVALANCHE heavily relied on.

"I wish I could join," she mumbled as they separated into two groups that would take action at each their point. Barret, Cid, and Riku would be the distraction, setting up a couple of explosions in the surrounding woods that would hopefully get the attention of most of the soldiers and draw them away from the base, enabling Cloud and Tifa to sneak in and get what they came for. Riku had wanted to join them, but Cloud had insisted that two people wouldn't be enough to set up the distraction and Tifa was a more experienced fighter than he was.

"Yeah, well, we can't risk that," Cloud replied, having heard Yuffie's words. "You know that as well as I do."

"Yes, I do. Shut up, please, and get to work!"

Then she wandered off and climbed up a tree to be the lookout while they got themselves ready. Riku, his sword fastened on his back, grabbed a couple of the boxes they had brought with explosives and joined Barret and Cid who were both ready to go.

"So we'll see ye back here in an hour," Cid said, nodding at Cloud and Tifa.

"You will," Cloud replied.

Then they were off. Riku, his face a mask of cold calmness, felt a surge of fear go through him as the two groups moved out of sight of each other, knowing that there was always the chance that something might happen despite all their preparations; something that would make their promise to all meet up in an hour useless. Who knew if the military also had some unexpected surprise waiting inside the base? On the other hand, he told himself firmly, the base on Destiny Islands had not been a problem for the rebels so why should this one? The factory had been a whole different case. That had been a concealed laboratory for Hojo's wicked experiments; this was simply a military facility.

Riku, Barret, and Cid reached the place they had decided would be the best spot in which to set up the diversion. Cid began opening the boxes and barked out instructions as to where the different parts of the bombs should go before he began assembling them, turning them from useless pieces into explosive weapons. He was once a military man, he had told Riku at some point, and his areas of expertise had been flying and mechanics. He knew he was perfect for this task of theirs.

As soon as the bombs were ready, they placed them in a pattern and Cid connected them with a wire. When they set them off, they would explode in a set order, giving the three rebels time to get away and go into hiding so they would not have to defend themselves against a bunch of soldiers. The safer choice was to be far away from the place of attention.

"Okay, here we go," Cid muttered as he lit up the fuse of the first bomb. "Time to get running!"

Riku noticed the wide smile on the man's face as they quickly ran out of reach of the explosions that were soon about to happen. They were still close enough to feel the power of it when the first one hit, but far enough from it to not be knocked over. They continued running for a while, reaching another side of the base, when Yuffie's voice sounded on the walkie-talkie in Barret's shirt.

_"It definitely worked,"_ she told them. _"There's a lot of commotion, and as far as I can tell, they're sending out a group to look into it. I'm thinking they might be thinking it's an attack which, I suppose, it is."_

"Can you see Cloud and Tifa anywhere?" Barret asked.

_"Negative. They've managed to conceal themselves pretty well, I'd say. So should you. Take care, okay?"_

"Of course," Barret grinned. "We're not stupid enough to get ourselves caught. See you soon."

_"Yeah. Make sure to get your fat ass back here in one piece; I'm pretty sure a tree won't be able to cover it so you shouldn't rely on that if the soldiers find you anyway, 'kay?"_

"What? You little..." Barret began, his face seething with anger, but Yuffie had already cut off the connection. He mumbled something incoherent and put the walkie-talkie back down his pocket. "She's right, though. We should probably hide, just in case."

"You hide," Riku said. "I'll be the lookout."

Cid raised an eyebrow.

"And how's that?"

"I'm pretty good at climbing," he replied, glancing up at the trees around them, trying to decide which one to target. He picked out one of the tallest and grabbed the closest branch. "Used to do it all the time back on the Islands."

He was already on his way up the tree and did not see the small smile that formed on Cid's face. Barret was about to protest, but Cid shook his head and motioned toward the bushes that were standing closely together and would well be able to conceal them both.

"Come on. It's a good plan. We shouldn't doubt that. Besides, he'll be as well-concealed up there as we will down here. Soldiers rarely think to look up when they can look around. They're more likely to discover us than the kid up his tree."

"Fine," Barret grumbled. But instead of stepping towards the bushes right away he went to the bottom of the tree Riku was climbing and looked up at him. "But in case somethin' happens, you stay there! The soldiers won't kill us; more likely they'll take us prisoners an' present us to their boss or somethin'. If that happens, you gotta tell the others. Got that?"

Riku rolled his eyes and glanced down towards the big man. He was not sure he liked the plan, but what Barret said was true; it was more likely the soldiers would take them hostage and try to make them talk than kill them, especially considering what had happened to him back on Destiny Islands.

"Got it," he replied. "But if you do get yourselves caught I will never cease to call you stupid."

Barret actually smiled at that.

"Deal, kid. Now go hide!"

"Likewise!" Riku shot back at him and climbed up further, looking for a good spot from which he would be able to see the encompassing area. It was not easy; after all, the forest was pretty thick around here, but finally he found a spot that gave him at least some vision of what surrounded them. From there, he could see the fire from the explosions on the other side of the base and he knew he would be able to tell if anyone approached them. Even the base was at least somewhat visible to him.

Yuffie had been right; the distraction definitely seemed to have worked. Soldiers were gathered at the end of the base to which the explosions were closest, giving Cloud and Tifa plenty of opportunities to sneak in through another entrance that was only scarcely guarded according to Yuffie's information. He recognized the uniforms; they were alike to the one Leon had been wearing. The man was probably still on Destiny Islands, fighting the soldiers of Land of Departure. His wound should have healed by now, unless he had been struck down.

Riku shook his head and dismissed the thought. Guy had been tough; he would not be that easily discarded. He was probably still alive and well. But why, Riku asked himself with a grimace, should he care what happened to a government soldier anyway? Hadn't he told himself that they were enemies? Still, Leon hadn't seemed that bad ... How much, he wondered, did he know about the doings of Shinra?

Suddenly, he recalled his words: _"I'm just a soldier, after all."_ But was there really such a thing as being "just" a soldier? You still had to fight for whatever cause your rulers decided on; didn't that mean that you agreed with them, if you kept fighting?

A sound got his attention and made him snap out of his thoughts. He quickly looked around and knew his instincts had been right; there were soldiers coming their way and they were moving quickly. Shit, that could not be good. He moved down the tree a little and glanced around, catching sight of Cid and Barret in the bushes.

"There are soldiers coming!" he called at them. "It's safer if you get going, get away further! There must be at least ten of them and they'll definitely search every inch of the area."

Cid, standing up, swore.

"Kid's right, Barret. We should move. Hadn't expected they'd be sendin' that many just to look around. Let's go back towards the rendezvous."

"Right," the big man said. Then, looking up at Riku, "What 'bout you, kid? You comin' or what?"

Riku only had to consider that for a moment.

"It'd take too long for me to get down. I'll stay here, go up further instead. They won't be able to see me for the branches. I'll meet you back at the rendezvous point as soon as they're gone."

Barret did not seem to like that line of action, but Cid nodded at Riku.

"Be sure they don't see you," he told him. "Don't wanna lose another so ye better don't get caught!"

"I won't," Riku replied, trying to look more confident than he felt. "Now go before they get here or this conversation will have been pointless because they'll see all three of us!"

They left, and as soon as the two were out of sight Riku quickly grabbed the closest branch and moved upwards, branch after branch, until he was sure the leaves would conceal him properly. Then he sat still and waited, keeping an eye on the ground area. He knew that if he moved they would find him because the sound of rustling leaves would not be overheard by a skilled ear on a day where there was no wind.

Soon after, he could see the first couple of soldiers passing by, then the whole group. They stopped to search every bush, look behind every tree, guns out and at the ready. Riku held his breath and stayed completely still. Not until they had moved on did he even dare to breathe. But he had made it. He had not been discovered and hopefully, neither had Barret and Cid. When he was sure the soldiers must be long gone he finally climbed down from the tree, reaching the ground.

He took a moment to decide which way might be safer. If he moved the same way Cid and Barret had, he might risk running into the soldiers. On the other hand, if he went back from where they had come, there might be other soldiers moving towards him. Uncertain of what to do, he ended up moving deeper into the forest, hoping to reach the rendezvous point via another route.

He had been walking for a while when he heard the sound of footsteps and froze. Listening hard, he guessed there was only one person coming towards him. He also guessed he would not have time to conceal himself up a tree again. Bringing out his sword, he took a deep breath and readied himself. The moment the guy came into view, Riku decided, he would attack, gaining the advantage of the surprise. It was unlikely it would be anyone but a soldier.

He waited, his heart beating fast as the footsteps got closer. Then, suddenly, they stopped. Riku moved slowly towards the place where they had been a moment ago, hoping to catch a glimpse of his enemy, but there was no one in sight. Maybe his senses had played a trick on him? Maybe he was in fact so nervous about actually running into an enemy that he had imagined the sound? If that was the case, he had been more afraid than he had realized. He was pretty sure his senses usually never let him down like that.

The glimpse of a movement behind him made him turn around just in time to block an attack. He cursed - he had been right after all! - and stepped backwards, keeping his sword up to defend himself against the attacker who came at him again. It was a soldier, no doubt about it; he was wearing the uniform of one, and Riku was not about to let him get the upper hand! As the soldier came at him again with a sword of his own, moving quickly, Riku dropped to the ground, rolled away from his line of attack, got up again and charged at the man's back.

But his opponent was better than to be taken aback by that. He turned around in the last minute and blocked, locking their swords against one another and forcing Riku to put all his strength into keeping the sharp edges of the blade some distance from his head. He swore inwardly and looked up at his attacker...

... only to find that the man's eyes had widened, in a scarred face he knew. For a long moment they stood there, swords locked, and stared at each other, both equally surprised. Then the soldier was the first one to speak.

"Riku?"

"Leon?"

Riku felt the weight of his opponent's sword lessen and pulled away, though still wary.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed. "I thought you were stationed at the base on Destiny Islands!"

"I was," Leon replied, "but I got transferred after my injury. My superiors decided I might as well take some time to rest up back here on the mainland before I returned to combat. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Rebelling," Riku declared. The word had only just left his mouth before he considered whether admitting to that hadn't been quite a stupid move. On the other hand, Leon was not stupid enough to accept any false excuse he might have come up with at face value.

There was a complete silence for a while. Then,

"You've become a rebel." Another silence, shorter this time. "To be honest, I'm not surprised. I remember what you told me on the Islands. But how did you get here?"

"It's not really any of your business," Riku shot back at him, "but if you really want to know, it's thanks to the military! They caught me breaking into the base."

"That was you?" Leon frowned. "But I heard that rebels attacked."

"They did. I joined them in getting out of there."

"So Sora and Kairi aren't with you?"

"No, they're not, and you better leave them alone! They're not a part of this!"

Leon finally let down his sword at that and met Riku's cold gaze with calm eyes.

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone about you three and I've kept my word," he said. "I'm not one to break it now. But I _will_ consider taking you into custody unless you tell me exactly why you're here - and don't doubt for a second that I can; we both know I'm more trained in fighting than you are and the last time we fought I was even injured. You were the one setting off the explosions, then? You and whoever you're with."

"I'm working alone," Riku replied.

"No, you're not," Leon stated matter-of-factly. "A knowledge of explosives like the one that was clearly used to set up those bombs to go off at a specific time interval suggests a military career or a professional hitman. Stop lying to me. I don't want to treat you like an enemy but you apparently are and I will if I have to."

Riku considered the man's words and knew they were true. He also knew that what Leon had said just before about being superior when it came to fighting skills were more than true; he clearly remembered the mock-battle they'd had back when Riku had treated the soldier's wound on Sora's request. Furthermore, as a soldier of the government Leon must already know about AVALANCHE and there was no use lying about it.

"Okay, so I'm not here on my own," Riku said, "but I'm not about to just blurt out our plans either!"

"Then I'm sorry, Riku, but I don't have much of a choice." As the soldier spoke, he stepped towards him, sword raised again and ready to attack. "You're gonna have to come with me."

Riku backed away, risking a glance behind him. There was nothing but forest; maybe if he could slip away from the man he would be able to find a place to hide ...

Leon, however, seemed to sense what he was about to do and moved forward. Riku blocked his attack, but within a matter of seconds Leon had the boy's arms on his back, his sword lying out of reach. Riku struggled to get free, but the soldier's hold was firm. Feeling despair and anger and humiliation rise inside him, Riku fought even harder.

"Hell, Leon, do you even know what you're fighting for? What you're trying to protect? Shinra's case isn't a noble one of keeping peace in the country; he's using his power to conduct experiments on people without anybody protesting! We're not mindlessly going for the kill here; we're trying to fucking stop it!"

The man hesitated; Riku could sense it in the way his grip loosened just the slightest, not enough for him to get free. He continued, trying to make the soldier see reason,

"The experiments are conducted by a professor named Hojo, in the Shinra Department! They started by abducting people from the slums, people that no one would miss, and now they're doing them on prisoners and whoever else Hojo can get his hands on! They're injecting them with something called Darkness, erasing their humanity and making them kill without mercy! What sort of cause is that to fight for? You should know better than that!"

There was a short silence, in which Riku still struggled. Then Leon spoke.

"Are what you're saying true or just something the rebels have led you to believe?"

"I've seen the proof," Riku told him. "I've seen friends killed right before me, by a child who wasn't even Sora's age yet! If you don't believe me, look into it yourself! But I'm going to stop Shinra and Hojo, even if it costs me my life!"

Something in his words must have convinced Leon of the truth of his words because the soldier let go and stepped back. His face was a mask, unreadable, but he picked up Riku's sword and threw it towards him. Riku caught it, surprised. He had not expected the soldier to actually let him run, even if he believed the man to be noble enough to not want to fight for a case like Shinra's true intentions.

Leon's voice was as unreadable as his face as he spoke.

"Go," he said. "I'll let you off for now. If it turns out what you said is a lie, then I promise you that next time we meet, I'll be taking you to my superiors like I'm supposed to right now. Hurry, before I change my mind."

Riku looked up to meet his eyes once more and saw the conflicting emotions there that the soldier managed to hide otherwise. Knowing that Leon might well change his mind if he stayed here for too long, Riku turned to leave. Before he disappeared into the bushes, however, he turned to look at the man one last time, face sober.

"Thank you."

Leon simply nodded shortly and Riku ran, gone from view within moments and leaving behind a soldier who suddenly had a lot on his mind to consider.


	11. Fields of Honor

A/N: Thanks to kage kitsune no yami and the guest who reviewed - people liking my story keeps me going! (:

This chapter just didn't wanna work with me. I did so much rewriting before I was finally satisfied with the content! Funny thing is, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen; it just took a while before I could put it down the way I wanted it to sound. But, anyway, here it is! I'm shifting the point of view for a bit; hope you'll like it!

Oh, another thing I just wanted to make a note of is the fact that I haven't yet played FFVIII, so if Seifer seems to differ from the depiction of him in the game, sorry 'bout that - I'm doing his character based entirely on his Kingdom Hearts appearances. Same goes for Leon.

/Yono.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Fields of Honor**

The mission was a success. AVALANCHE returned to their headquarters in Midgar in - for the first time since the awful night in the factory - a good mood. They had managed to cheat Shinra and his soldiers of supplies and stocked up their own basement at the same time. Biggs, Jesse, and Wedge would have been proud, and Biggs would without a doubt have brought out the alcohol within minutes.

However, even if there was finally a reason to rejoice, the rebels were not in the mood for a party. Instead, they got their goods down on the shelves where they belonged and gathered around for a quiet meal that Tifa prepared. Yuffie declared that she would leave early next morning to see what new information she could get for them and would not be back in at least a week, probably more. Then they all went to bed.

Riku woke up in the middle of the night and found it hard to fall asleep again. He lay in his bed for a while, thinking about the meeting with Leon. Had it been stupid, he wondered, to burst out their entire knowledge of the Darkness experiments to someone working for the government? On the other hand, Leon had seemed genuinely taken aback by his words. He obviously had not known. Would he report Riku's information to his superior, which could be dangerous for AVALANCHE because then Shinra would eventually learn how much they knew, or would he keep it to himself - and if he did, would he look into it or just let it go?

Riku sighed. He had not told any of the others about the encounter and he was not about to. They would find his outburst idiotic for sure.

He finally gave up on sleep and pulled on some clothes. Then he went downstairs and took the already so familiar way to the backyard. He remembered the last time he had been here. He had been grieving for Jesse, and for Biggs and Wedge. The time before that, Jesse had told him about how much she wished that she could see the stars. She had called the plate above for "the plate of misery". Now, looking up at it, Riku had to agree. That plate represented everything that was wrong with this country. The people of the slums could not see the stars because the rich people above wanted to live closer to them. And for what reason? None that he could think of. Being richer did not mean being closer to the stars, after all. People only fancied themselves better because they were living above others who had been less lucky in life.

Again, he missed Destiny Islands. The smell of the sea, the rustling of the wind in the palm trees, the clear blue sky ... He had long wanted to leave it behind to see the world. Now, he wondered why he had thought the world outside would be any better than home.

Sighing, he lied down on the sand and closed his eyes. Well, at least he had people around him that he could rely on, even have good times with. If he had to live like this, at least he did it in good company. He would protect them, even if they did not need protection much, because they had become friends. He still missed Sora and Kairi and the closeness of their friendship, but he would rather they did not get involved in this and stayed safe, out of harm's way, on the Islands. Then maybe one day he could return to them, when Shinra was down and the country finally at peace again.

Maybe one day he could return home.

o0o

The mess hall of the Kalm military base was noisy as always at this time of day. All around him, the tables were filled by men laughing, discussing, getting into arguments over one thing or another. Other men were standing in line at the serving desk, eager for the all-too-ordinary food that they got every day, three times a day. He was so used to this scenario that he automatically avoided the spilt sauce on the floor, moved through the masses with the usual grace of a trained soldier, and sat down next to his friends. One of them looked up at him as he did so, the short blond hair combed back neatly and the sober face still handsome even with a scar almost identical to Leon's on it.

"Hey there, lamer," he said. "You're late for dinner. Not that it's not understandable, what with the quality of the food they're serving here."

Leon smiled slightly at that comment. Seifer was a friend of his. They had served together as privates when they had first entered the military back at the Balamb Garden camp and stuck together for a long while after that. To be at the same base as him again made it feel almost as if it was the good old days.

"I just had to finish up a letter," he replied.

"To who?" Seifer inquired.

Leon did not reply, simply sent him another small smile, and Seifer let it go, knowing he would get nothing out of the man.

"You know, you've been sending an awful lot of letters lately," he remarked as he began cutting up the meat on his plate. "One might start to think you've got something going on."

Leon frowned at that. Hopefully, what Seifer was suggesting was only that others might believe he had a girl to whom he was writing. He knew there had been nothing in his behavior to give away anything about the actual reasons he was spending so much time on his own. Ever since Riku had told him a couple of weeks ago what the rebel group was really fighting to do he had been trying to find out whether or not the boy had spoken the truth or simply made up a lie that was convincing enough for Leon to let him go. However, the information he wanted was not easy to get to and he had to be extremely careful, because if it really was true it was for certain that Shinra would not want the information to be known.

He shrugged.

"Let "one" think what he will," he said. "Maybe I just have a lot of acquaintances I'd like to keep in touch with. I've served with a lot of different people in different places by now. You should know what that's like."

Seifer accepted that reply with a silent smile and did not ask any further questions. Leon quickly took this chance to change the subject to the work at hand, hoping Seifer's curiosity had been satisfied for now. The danger of researching Riku's words while serving with his old friend was that Seifer was brighter than most of the others around here and quick to catch on to something. However, Leon would not let that stop him. If Seifer found out what he was doing, well, he would have to deal with it. But till then, he would continue looking into this matter of the Shinra Department.

o0o

When he had first requested a day of leave, Leon had been fully aware that it might take some time before it was approved. Now that the day had finally come where he could go into the city in civilian clothes, he felt somewhat unprepared. Through carefully approaching people he thought might be able to help him get the information he wanted he had finally been able to arrange a meeting with a man who claimed that he could offer him what he needed against a fair price. Walking through the city of Kalm he wondered what he would do if the man turned out to be even less honorable than expected.

Kalm was a relatively quiet city, yet even here there were the good part of town and the bad part of town. Heading for the latter, Leon put his hands in his pockets and tried to look as much as possible like he belonged here, thanking years of military training for his ability to make his face inscrutable.

He pushed open the door to the inn and stepped inside. A quick glance at his watch told him that it was five minutes to one and thereby to the appointed meeting time. He had not been told what to look for because the informant had required a description of him instead - for safety reasons, the man had written - and so, Leon sat down at the table at the furthest corner of the place, ordered a mild drink, and waited. Five minutes later, an elderly man entered the inn and looked around searchingly. Leon almost expected him to come sit by his table, but the man seemed to find whoever he was looking for at another table where he was greeted by what must be his friends.

Ten more minutes passed and Leon was starting to think the informant would not show. He sighed inwardly. He had really hoped that this day would bring final proof or rejection of Riku's words; they had been bothering him ever since their encounter in the forest outside the base. Riku had said he would stop Shinra, even if it cost him his life. Having seen his protectiveness of his friends back on Destiny Islands, Leon had a feeling he would only be ready to cast away the chance to see them again if the cause really was worth it.

Of course, it was highly possible that the rebel group had told him a false story and the so-called proof he had spoken off had been a lie. If that was the case, well, Leon felt like he had to find the kid and stop him from doing anything stupider than what he had done so far. He had really liked Riku; it would not be fair to let him be judged a rebel because of a lie.

"Is this seat taken?" The voice of a woman sounded and Leon looked up in surprise. She was quite beautiful, dressed in a simple black dress and a jacket. Her cobber red hair was wavy and resting neatly on her shoulders and she was smiling. Leon noticed, however, that the smile was not quite reaching her brown eyes.

"Actually," he replied, "I'm waiting for someone."

"Well," her smile widened, "that would be me, soldier. I recognized you by the scar. I'm Shuriken."

He blinked, taken aback, when she spoke the name of the - he had supposed - man with whom he had been writing about the information. As she slipped down onto the seat next to him she laughed a little at the expression on his face.

"You were expecting a man," she said, more of a statement than a question.

"I have to admit that I was," Leon replied, finally regaining the ability to speak.

"That's alright. They always are. That's part of why I'm so good at this; I never let my gender slip before I meet with the person. You'll have to excuse my being late," she added. "I had to check that you really had come alone. It seems you were sincere, though."

He smiled wryly. She was clever, that much was clear. Also, she was a professional, at least at this, checking the truth of his words before accepting them at face value. He had to hand it to her; he was impressed compared to what he had expected. Sitting beside the informant now, his thoughts prior to the meeting seemed awfully rude.

"Do you have the information you said you could get for me?" he asked, getting down to business. After all, that was what he was here for.

"Of course," she replied calmly. "But before I hand it to you I'd like to ask you a question."

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you want it?"

Surprised once again - he definitely had not expected the informant to ask such questions; rather, he had been pretty sure he would have gotten some weird speech about the content and how they should definitely fight against Shinra and so on - he considered for a while how to answer it.

"You know from our correspondence that I'm a soldier," he began slowly, "and I'm supposed to be fighting for what the government believes in. That's what I intend to do, as long as it's a good cause, like keeping peace in the country. However, a friend of mine recently told me that the cause may not be as good as I thought it was. I guess I'd like to know what I'm fighting for so I can decide whether or not it's the right side I'm doing it on."

She took in his words in silence, her face as unreadable as he knew his own was. He wondered where she had learned to keep this calm, this sense of being professional, and was perfectly aware that he would never get an answer, even if he asked her. After a while, she pulled out an envelope from an inner pocket in her jacket and put it on the table.

"This is what you were looking for," she declared. "Read it and decide for yourself whether or not it's something worth supporting. I don't believe it is, but every person has his or her own opinions so I won't presume to be the one who knows best."

She turned her eyes to meet his and continued,

"If, however, you decide that you need to join the other side of this battle, contact me again. I might know someone who would be interested in meeting you then."

With that being said, she stood and left the inn. Leon watched her go, suddenly wondering whether that mysterious woman was part of the rebel group too, or at least a contact of theirs. Her parting words, at least, had given him the clear impression of it.

He picked up the envelope, hid it under his jacket, and left the inn as well, intending to find a secluded place to read it. He could not risk taking it back to base in case someone - most likely Seifer - decided to look through his stuff to see what it was he was hiding. Leon had to walk for a while before he finally found an alley with no people nearby; Kalm was not that big a city and so, the growing number of inhabitants did not have much space to scatter on. He checked once more that no one was watching, then pulled out the envelope and carefully opened it.

As he looked through the papers, he could feel his mood change for worse. This ... Even after thinking Riku's words through and looking into the matter, Leon finally admitted to himself that he had not really believed what the kid had said could be true. But this ... The documents bore the official government stamp. There were bank receipts showing huge amounts transferred from Shinra to a person named Hojo, the same name Riku had mentioned as the professor conducting the experiments in the Shinra Departments, the doings of which had turned out to be classified information. Furthermore, there were a few lab reports written on results of tests, though much of it was written in so scientific a language that Leon had a hard time understanding what it said. The worst part were the pictures also included in the envelope; pictures of people on surgery tables, people hooked up to huge containers of a weird, dark fluid, and people huddling in a corner of what must be a prisoner cell, its walls all white. It was horrifying, and it must be top secret. Leon wondered how Shuriken had even managed to get her hands on this.

Going through the last pictures, which was apparently taken outside a facility, Leon suddenly noticed a face he knew. He held the picture up closer for a better look, then put it inside his pocket. The rest of the information he knew he must destroy. If he was discovered carrying it, he would definitely be seen as a threat and he was not about to let himself be caught now that he had discovered that Shinra's side really was the wrong one to be on. Riku had been right.

o0o

He contacted Shuriken again, but weeks went by before he got a reply. Finally, when he had almost given her up for lost, possibly captured or killed by someone from the government who had found out about her doings, he received a letter with nothing but a date and a place. Leon applied for another day of leave and was granted it because his superior knew he rarely requested one and was a very respected soldier on the base.

"So you've decided you'd like to make a move against the government, then?" Shuriken asked when they met up at the inn again.

He'd had a feeling she was going to ask him that and had considered his answer already.

"I have. I also happen to know that there's a rebel group called AVALANCHE fighting against the government. Are you a part of it?"

She narrowed her eyes a little, gazing at him for a long while before she replied. When she did, her voice was guarded, he noticed, though he doubted many others would. Through his military training he had learned to recognize certain signs a person might emit when under pressure or in situations in which they did not feel completely secure.

"No," she said at last. "I'm not. But I might know someone who is. Why are you asking?"

Knowing it would be no use assuring her of his good intentions he answered the question as truthfully as he dared. They might be on the same side as far as they knew, but they were also both professional enough not to trust each other, and each other's intentions, simply because of that. Hell, for all he knew she might be from the government after all, and as far as _she _knew he might well be a military spy hoping to finally catch the infamous rebel group.

"You remember the friend I told you about?" She nodded and he continued, "Well, that friend has joined the rebels. We met by chance, which is when he told me about the doings of the government. I need to find him and let him know I believe him. Also, there's something else he should know. Based on the pictures you gave me, the Department have gotten their hands on someone he knows."

This seemed to convince her of his sincerity better than anything else he had said so far.

"I'll set up a meeting with a contact of mine," she told him. "She calls herself Little Wutai. Make sure to show up because she never stays in the same town for long."

o0o

Less than a week later he found himself in the middle of the town square during the busiest hours of day. The inhabitants of Kalm were milling around, taking care of their business and hardly noticing the lone man sitting at the bench where - according to Shuriken's letter - he was supposed to meet someone at one thirty PM. Once again he did not know what to look for, except for the fact that it must be a woman. He checked his watch once more. Still five minutes to go.

He remembered the look Seifer had sent him that very morning before he left for the town and repressed a grimace. The man knew him too well; even if Leon tried to conceal it as best he could, it seemed Seifer had caught on to the knowledge that something was wrong. Well, there was nothing to be done about it; if necessary, Leon would just have to mislead him. It would be no use telling his friend that all these days off was due to a girl because he had a feeling Seifer would not believe him. Also, he could not risk the truth, at least not until he had some evidence that was more substantial than the single picture he had kept from Shuriken's files. Maybe he should have kept a bit more of the content; however, that would have been even more dangerous than Seifer's eagle-eyeswatching him. If the higher-ups found out about his recent meetings they would definitely report him to Shinra's people and he would be of no use to anyone stuck in a prison cell or an interrogation room somewhere.

He checked his watch again. One thirty-three. When would Shuriken's contact get here?

That was when a voice sounded from the bench behind his.

"Don't turn around."

It was a girl, by the sound of it, possibly even a young one. Slightly surprised at that, Leon replied.

"Who are you?"

"They call me Little Wutai. Shuriken sent me. Now, be warned - she told me you seemed trustworthy, but try and turn around and I will push the trigger of the gun that is right now aimed at your guts. Just so you don't try anything funny."

Leon felt pretty certain he would be fully capable of handling the situation if he chose to do so. However, that was not why he was here. There would be no point in picking a fight with the one who might be able to tell Riku what had happened.

"I won't. You're part of AVALANCHE, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Affirmative. Though I fail to see how that's relevant since I'm not taking you there. You're a soldier."

"Maybe I've seen the light," he replied, then grimaced at his own words and continued, "It's relevant for me. I need to get a message to someone in your group."

"Who?"

"Guy named Riku."

This made her oddly silent for a while. It was awfully tempting to turn around and check whether she was still there, but Leon did not move a muscle. After a long period of nothing but quiet, the girl spoke again, her voice betraying that she was clearly suspicious of his words.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because I've found out one of his friends is being kept at the Shinra Department."

An ugly swearword escaped her in a hiss.

"What proof do you have?" she asked harshly. "I doubt you just suddenly walked in there and noticed. And how do you know Riku anyway? I don't remember him mentioning he knew a soldier!"

"We met on Destiny Islands," Leon explained. "I was injured; he and his friends helped me recover."

"And you, what, paid back his helpfulness by selling off one of his friends?"

He sighed inwardly and bade himself patience. Of course she would think that, being a rebel; he knew they tended to be more than hostile towards anyone or anything connected to the government or the military. Quite rightly, too, because AVALANCHE were some of the most wanted people in the whole country due to their open resistance against Shinra. There was no reason why this girl should believe his words at face value even the slightest bit. He knew that, yet somehow arguing with her made him feel like he was just about to lose his otherwise very sturdypatience.

"I didn't," he replied. "But when I asked Shuriken to provide me with proof about the doings of the Department, one of the things she gave me was this."

He took out the only picture he had kept from the envelope and handed it to the girl. She took it and he guessed she must be studying it in the silence that once again settled.

"I'll take it to him," she stated at last, "see what he has to say about it. However, just FYI, I'm not sure I like that he's been around a government soldier. Of course, if you've really, you know, seen the light or whatever you called it, maybe it's forgivable. But you better stay on our good side, or it could get messy! If you need to talk to me again, write Shuriken - she'll tell you when I'm in town or how to contact me. I'll let Riku know you said hi - what's your name?"

It was the first time he'd been asked that; Shuriken had accepted that they both used names that were only covers and it felt a bit insecure to have someone like Little Wutai asking him about it in such a direct way. However, she clearly did not trust him; to be fair, he would have been skeptical too in her situation so he supposed it was fair enough that she asked. It could be considered a token of his goodwill if he gave up his name.

"It's Leon," he replied. "That's what Riku will know me as, anyway."

"Leon." It sounded more like a memo to herself than an acknowledgement of the fact that he had actually told her. "Okay. I'll tell him I've talked to you. Maybe I'll see you at some point; if not, well, watch your back! The business of going against Shinra," this she added in a low voice as if to make absolutely sure that no one around them would hear, even if the people who were passing by seemed too busy to notice a pair of strangers having a conversation back to back, "is dangerous. You never know who to trust. If you decide to stay in the military despite everything you know, it's especially risky, so keep your mouth shut tight, soldier! Anyway, count to ten, then you can look if you want to."

He did as he was told and by the time he turned around she had already disappeared into the crowd. There was no way to tell whom it had been, even if she was still visible which he highly doubted. Even if she had not emitted the same degree of professionalism as Shuriken had, there was no doubt this girl knew how to do her business. If she really was as young as she had sounded, he had to admit he was just the slightest bit impressed.

He cast one more glance at the crowd around him. Then he got up and walked back towards the Kalm base. For now, he would stay on duty and see what happened while he looked into this matter some more. Maybe, working from the inside, he would be able to eventually provide the rebels with useful information about military movements. It was a matter to be considered, however, because he did not want to endanger the friends he had made during his time as a soldier. Before he made a final decision as to whether he should really help the rebels the way he might be able to, he would need to find something that could convince his friends that Shinra was not worth obeying, evidence even better than what Shuriken had provided him with because documents and pictures could all be falsely made. The reason he himself had chosen to trust it was partly due to Riku's words and partly due to the fact that he had recognized Sora on one of the pictures. He hoped that AVALANCHE would be able to help the kid out of the clutches of whoever this Hojo was.

And in regards to Seifer ... Well, that was a matter to be dealt with when it really became a problem. For now, Leon had a feeling he would be able to keep him in the dark, at least for a while.

o0o

As Yuffie made her way back towards Midgar, the conversation she'd had with Leon kept popping up in her mind. Of course, she usually went over any information she had gotten after a meet-up with an informant but this had been different – for one thing, guy was a soldier. Of course, she had taken advantage of the information they sometimes provided unknowingly often enough, but Yuffie had never thought she would see the day where soldiers began turning their backs to the power they served. They were cowards; they wouldn't dare. But this Leon guy? Obviously not of ordinary making. She sort of had to admit to herself that she found it pretty damn cool. _If_ he did not turn out to be a spy or something.

Shuriken had seemed pretty convinced he was sincere, though, when she had called to let Yuffie know she had someone who would like to meet her. The ninja girl still had no idea why, but then again, she could rarely figure the woman out. Yuffie had been introduced to her by Cloud a couple months after the blonde had first joined AVALANCHE and yet she still didn't know from where the man knew her, what their relationship had been, and who the woman actually was. Hell, she didn't even know Shuriken's real name.

But then again, Shuriken did not know Yuffie's name either. They had both been perfectly comfortable sticking to codenames because – as Shuriken had put it – names could be dangerous, both to know and to give up. The ninja spy had never met anyone seeming as professional about the spy business as the red-haired woman, which annoyed Yuffie to bits. She herself had been at it since the fall of Wutai, yet she came nowhere near to Shuriken's level. The mere thought of it made her pout.

Anyway. The information.

She entered Midgar in plain sight. It wasn't dangerous for her because not even the Turks knew her face and even less her connection to AVALANCHE. She had been careful about that. Lately, however – or, more precisely, since the deaths of Wedge, Jesse, and Biggs – she had felt a new need to be part of the missions the rebels were still determined to carry out.

She got on the train and found a seat as it moved toward the Sector 5 slums. From there, she made her way through the markets and the more criminal areas of Sector 6 until she reached Sector 7. With lighter steps now – it was always great to come back to so familiar ground –she went into a trot until finally she reached the 7th Heaven bar.

o0o

More than a month had passed since the success at the military base. Since then, AVALANCHE had kept busy, striking three small targets just to keep Shinra on edge. Hopefully, he would take it the right way and understand that the rebels would not stay put even if they had been face to face once more with death. Cloud still found himself waking up sometimes in the night, thinking of leaving the others behind and disappear somewhere he could be certain he would not be a threat to them eventually, but every time this happened, the image of Tifa in his mind made him stay. He knew it was irrational, and still that small part of him hoped that maybe someday, someday he would deserve that little bit of happiness her smile always gave him.

Everyday life had returned to the degree of normality they could expect in a situation like theirs. At one point, they had all gone to Aerith's church where her flowers still bloomed in the middle of it, as though she was still there, tending to them. There, they had performed their own little memorial service for Jesse, Wedge, and Biggs. Tifa had been crying silently, and Barret had turned away to disguise the tears on his cheeks because, as he had once said, "real men don't cry". Cloud had felt hollow inside, remembering not only the three, but also the painful memories of Aerith and of Zack... and of Nibelheim. Everything seemed so very long ago and yet so clear in his mind.

Yuffie had called to tell them she was finally in a reception area again after having been at the outskirts and travelling through the wastelands. She was on her way back and would probably be there shortly. A mix of curiosity and alertness had been peaked in Cloud at her tone when she had said she had some news and now he found himself just waiting for her to show up with that huge, goofy smile of hers.

He had barely thought it when the back door was slammed open and the light steps of the ninja accompanied by her yell of "I'm back!" sounded. A moment later, Yuffie appeared in the doorway to the living room and looked around.

"Great," she exclaimed, "everyone's here! I'll get straight to the point, then!"

She launched herself into the couch and seemed to be eagerly waiting for someone to ask her to continue. When no one did, however, she made a pouty face and sighed before she began her story.

"Okay, so I had a meeting with a very unusual informant..." she said, stopping for a second as if to draw out the dramatic tension before adding, "... in Kalm. This guy I met with? He was a soldier!"

This time, she got her reaction. Barret stood up so fast he almost tripped; he quickly straightened himself and uttered a resounding,

"WHAT?"

"I know, right?" Yuffie replied, leaning forward till she sat on the very edge of her seat. "Seems he was sincerely questioning his employers and we all know that _never_ happens! At least it's the first I've seen of it. Anyway, to move on, this guy had been seeking some information about the Shinra Department and he'd spoken to a contact of mine who'd sent him to me because he said he had something he needed to tell us."

"A soldier?" Barret huffed angrily. "What tha hell could a _soldier_ have to say that'd be of any interest to..."

"Just let her finish!" Riku snapped, and Cloud suddenly realized the boy had gone incredibly tense. He frowned. Why would this news affect Riku this much? A horrible notion crossed Cloud's mind as the words manifested themselves – was there a connection between their latest member and the military after all? And if so, what kind?

Barret's face showed a strange mix of astonishment and anger at the boy's harsh tone but he shut up and nodded at Yuffie for her to go on. The ninja smiled and continued.

"Well, my contact had showed him some of the pictures and documents and stuff that prove what Shinra's up to and apparently, the guy had noticed something – or rather, _someone –_ on one of them that he thought we – or more specifically, Riku – would like to know about."

At this, all eyes in the room turned abruptly towards Riku who barely seemed to notice. He was staring at Yuffie, lips tight and eyes suddenly so full of worry that Cloud wasn't sure what to expect.

"The soldier's name," the boy managed to force out. "What was it?"

"He said you'd know him as Leon," Yuffie replied. Then she got up and went to his chair, taking out a picture from an inner pocket and handing it to Riku as she continued, "He wanted you to know that this friend of yours has been taken by the Shinra Department."

As Riku accepted the photograph, Cloud noticed how his hands shook slightly, and the moment he laid eyes on it, the boy's face turned pale as death. For a long while everything was silent, as if every single person in the room were holding their breaths. The sound of a name coming from Riku was the first thing to break the silence.

"Sora ..."


	12. Duty and Friendship

A/N: Thanks to kage kitsune no yami and the guest for reviewing! :D

So! Finally the summer holidays have started and that means time for writing! As a result, here's the twelfth chapter of Sinister Sundown~

I always liked Cissnei. She was my favorite female character in Crisis Core and I'm so sad that we never got Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis in English as I find the Turks to be very interesting and cool characters. Anyway, just to say that this definitely won't be Cissnei's last appearance in the story; she's too cool to be left out of the fight. ;)

We won't get to see what happened to Sora quite yet, but the question of what AVALANCHE's reaction to the fact that he has been captured by the Shinra Department should be becomes a matter for discussion. Riku has already made his decision, but the rest of the group may not be as ready to attack the highly guarded facility in which the Darkness experiments are being conducted.

Enjoy!

/Yono.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Duty and Friendship**

Above the plate, the moon was shining brightly on a dark cloudless sky, lighting up the many tall and stylish skyscrapers underneath it. The flats in them were all spacious, with plenty of space for a family to live comfortably in. It was ironic, really, that one part of a city could have such light and luxury while the other part lived mostly in darkness. During the day, if the people underneath the plate were lucky, some light would slip in; but as soon as night came, there would be nothing but the dim street lamps to help guide your way through the streets of lower Midgar.

Cloud, however, knew them well after having lived here for years. Approximately an hour ago he had left 7th Heaven and he was now leaning against a wall, waiting. He knew it would not be long before she appeared. Cissnei was always on time.

A few minutes later, he could see her entering the alley, her eyes guarded as she took in her surroundings. Finding no one but Cloud there and no signs of disturbance otherwise, she continued forward. He did not blame her for checking; they both had that habit of expecting the worst. When you had worked for Shinra, you knew how to cover your ass at all times because danger might strike at any moment and you did not want to be caught unprepared. Especially not if the enemy knew his business as well.

She had not changed much since the time they had first met. Her cobber red wavy hair was resting on her shoulders and her brown eyes inscrutable as she neared him, smiling slightly. Cloud found himself returning the smile with a nod; he never really knew how to act around Cissnei. All they had in common, as far as he knew, were the facts that they had both worked for Shinra prior to Zack's death and that they had both known the SOLDIER. For both of them, his death had changed things.

"Evening, Cloud," she greeted him, stopping but a few steps away.

"Cissnei."

"I'm pretty sure I know what you want to ask me," she said. "So it's true that my contact knew someone in your group? You don't have to answer; you wouldn't be here otherwise."

He almost smiled at that. Straight to business as always.

"Yeah. It's also true my friend knew a person on one of the pictures you gave the soldier. I need some more information about it."

"You brought it, I suppose?"

Cloud nodded and took out from a pocket the picture Yuffie had handed Riku. Cissnei took it and grimaced slightly before handing it back.

"This was taken somewhat recently," she told him. "Mere days before my first meeting with the man, which would make it around five weeks ago. However, it's impossible to know exactly what might have happened to the boy since then, considering the nature of the experiments of the Department."

She raised her eyes to meet his, a calm knowledge in her gaze, giving Cloud a feeling that she had already guessed why he was asking about it. She seemed to be looking for confirmation, though, as she continued,

"What are you going to do?"

"We haven't decided yet," he replied honestly. There had been one hell of a heated discussion in the headquarter of AVALANCHE ever since Yuffie's appearance and they had yet to reach an agreement.

"The Shinra Department is one of the most secured places I know. It would be pure insanity to try and get in. If you're planning to do so, however, I might be able to help; but as for getting out, you're on your own. I can't be seen nearby. For me to be associated with AVALANCHE would be... dangerous for Shinra, considering the knowledge I have of the government. They'd come for me."

"Would you let them?" he asked.

She shot him an annoyed glare.

"They'd find me eventually, even if I ran. I might have skills, Cloud, but I'm still just one person. In the end, there's nothing much I can do if Shinra really decides he wants my head. You understand that, don't you? The danger of being hunted by him."

She wasn't just referring to him being part of AVALANCHE and he knew it. Her words brought back hazy memories of his escape with Zack; fragments of memories he wished he could recall more clearly. He lowered his eyes for a moment and heard her small sigh. Her voice was quiet when she spoke next.

"If you're really thinking what I believe you are, I want you to be careful. Don't waste the life that Zack saved."

Once again he didn't know what to reply. The only times she ever let her emotions slip was when she spoke about Zack and Cloud wondered what his friend and mentor had been to her. It pained him to know so little about the man whom he had admired, who had saved Cloud's life by giving up his own. The thought of Zack's death tightened the feeling of guilt in his chest once more and he had to fight to banishit and return to the state of business he ought to stay in. After all, he had come here for a reason.

Before he could get himself together, however, Cissnei had turned around and was about to leave. Cloud quickly collected himself and spoke.

"One more thing."

She stopped and turned a little to look at him.

"My contact, the soldier, right?"

He nodded, and she continued,

"I've judged him to be sincere. We corresponded for a while before I agreed to meet with him. As far as I could tell, he had been pretty taken aback when your friend told him about the doings of the Department and is now genuinely doubting the government for whom he's fighting. I don't think there's any danger from that side, but I can't promise anything, of course."

"No. I understand. Thank you, Cissnei," he said and meant it.

She smiled in reply and left, leaving Cloud alone with his thoughts, his doubts, and his memories. After a little while he, too, left the alley.

o0o

He returned to Hollow Bastion just as the first light was slowly starting to find its way through the cracks in the plate left open for the slums to relish in and Cloud only just then realized that he had been up all night. Time seemed to have passed quickly while he was in the company of his thoughts. There were still so many things undecided, so many problems that needed to be addressed ... But first and foremost, there was something he needed to make sure of. Entering the house, he went for the living room and stopped just outside the door, his hand inches away from the doorknob. Should he go in? The low rumbling of Barret's voice seepedthrough the wood, interrupted now and then by Yuffie's replies. It seemed, at least, the argument was over for now.

Turning towards the hallway once more, Cloud saw Tifa enter from the kitchen. When their eyes met, she smiled a little, though it only just reached her eyes. She was worried, and who could blame her, really? Weren't they all, even if they did not all show it?

"Hey. You're back." It sounded like a 'welcome home' coming from her like that. "Where have you been?"

There was no anger in her voice, no annoyance at the long hours he had been gone, yet he felt like he should have hurried back more than he had; if nothing else, then just for her to smile at him once more. The memories of Zack were still heavy on his heart. Maybe that was part of the reason he rarely met with Cissnei. She made him remember too much.

"There was someone I needed to talk to," he replied.

"And did you find that person?"

"I did," he nodded. "And as I hoped, I procured some more information on the picture of Riku's friend. How is he?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "He's out there," and she gestured towards the backyard, "training. He has been for hours now. I think he's trying to deal with the shock he got."

That _would_ make sense, Cloud thought, gazing towards the backdoor. The boy was probably trying to keep his mind occupied elsewhere. It was something Cloud could quite easily relate to, and the best way to stop thinking, to stop speculating about the things that made you worry, made you fret was to make sure you were too exhausted to be able to. Of course, it hit him, there was one other thing they should be aware of. He was just about to open his mouth and tell Tifa when she put a hand on his arm. He looked down and met her warm gaze, still comforting even when the calm had left her eyes.

"I had Cid keep an eye on him from the upstairs window, just in case," she told him. "I didn't want him to run off on his own; that would be no help to anyone. If we're going to do something, we should do it together."

"Yeah," Cloud replied. "I agree."

Silence fell and lasted for a while. Tifa was the one to break it. She wrapped her arms around herself as she spoke and Cloud could not help but wonder whether she was even conscious of that movement while he listened to her words.

"To think that the three of them were alone for so long, hiding in a cave," she said and Cloud knew that she was referring to what Riku had told them the night before about himself and his time on the island after the initial attacks. "It must have been so hard. I mean, they're still just kids. Being thrown into a war like that ..."

She stopped and the look in her eyes made Cloud want to put his arms around her and hold her close, but he knew he had to keep his distance, for both of their sakes.

"I was about his age when I first left Nibelheim," Cloud reminded her.

"I know. But still, it's different. You left because you had a dream and you had people to guide you. Riku and his friends... they didn't choose to be part of this war; it was just thrust upon them."

"It was thrust upon all of us, whether we liked it or not, at some point," Cloud replied silently. "Riku's strong. He'll pull through."

"Yeah, my mind knows you're right, Cloud, but..." She seemed to struggle with the words a bit, as if trying to figure out how to explain what she was thinking, feeling. "I think... it's tough on him, right now, because he must feel like he's let down his friends. He wanted to protect them, back on the Islands, and yet now we've got proof that at least one of them got taken anyway. I think he feels like he's responsible."

"But even if he'd been there, there would've been nothing he could do about it. It's not his fault."

"No," Tifa replied. "And you can keep telling him that till the end of the world, yet he'll still think that it was."

She met his eyes and for a moment, Cloud sensed that there was another meaning to her words, a meaning he knew, but did not want to recognize. Because his case and Riku's were different in so many ways, even if Tifa did not believe so.

"I'll go talk to him," Cloud said when the silence started to become too much.

She nodded.

"Yeah. Do that. Then I'll see you afterwards."

Somehow, Cloud could feel her eyes on him as he turned and went for the backdoor, but he knew there was nothing more to say. At some point, that was always where they ended up: with nothing more to say than had already been said. Somehow, that was as far as they could go if they wanted to stay in the safety zone they had unknowingly established. It was like if they said anymore, they would be treading on dangerous ground and the walls would start to crack. He could not risk for the walls to crack. It scared him.

So he grasped for something less complicated to put his mind on, to keep the thoughts and the feelings at bay. And right now, that something was Riku's case. Because Cloud had decided what he was going to do now. After all, in the end, it all came down to one thing: What would Zack Fair have done?

o0o

Riku lay on his back, gasping, looking up at that big, ugly plate once more, yet barely seeing it. Thoughts were going through his mind again, though he had been trying so very hard to keep them away. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to distract himself, but did not succeed. It seemed worry wasn't as easily dismissed as he wished it could be. The picture of Sora that Yuffie had shown him kept popping up in his mind. Sora, who had been taken by the Shinra Department. Sora, who could at this moment be exposed to terrible experiments. Sora, who might end up like that boy from the factory who had killed Jesse and Biggs ...

Quickly, Riku jumped up and grabbed his sword again because training seemed to be the only thing that could keep those horrible images at bay. When he was focusing on the blows and parades, at least his thoughts could not haunt him, could not torment him as much. But he couldn't keep up his movements for long this time. His body was already sore beyond belief. He had probably never been this tired in his life. And yet, as he fell back down on the sand, his mind seemed to want anything but to go to sleep. Groaning, he tried to at least focus on something else than Sora and his thoughts slipped back to the evening before.

After Yuffie had shown him the picture on which Leon had recognized Sora, all hell had broken loose. Barret had turned instantly from the small ninja and to Riku, practically spitting fire.

"You know a _soldier_?" he had yelled in angry disbelief.

"That's not the issue right now!" Riku had retorted, also standing to face the man who were several heads taller than him. "Sora's been taken and I need to go save him!"

"No, you don't," Cloud had cut in. His voice had not been raised, but from his tone it was clear that leaving was out of the question. "At least not until you explain exactly how you know this soldier and how he knows your friend."

Silence fell for a long time once more as the three guys seemed to be caught up in a competition of stubbornness and glares. In the end, Riku sat back down and buried his head in his hands. This was too much. He couldn't take it. Sora had been taken; Sora was a prisoner at the Shinra Department and he had to sit here and talk as if nothing serious was wrong! He knew, however, that Cloud wasn't likely to let him walk out the door before his questions had been answered. So Riku surrendered and met the man's steady gaze.

"Sora is my childhood friend from the Islands," he began, trying to control his voice so it would stop shaking. The shock of seeing Sora on that picture had hit him harder than he had ever imagined anything possibly could. "After the city was attacked, we fled and hid in a cave we used to play in when we were kids. There were three of us - me, Sora, and another friend, Kairi. We stayed there because we had no other choice. The soldiers were fighting on the Islands and we didn't much want to get caught. So we got by."

He could feel the eyes of every person in the room upon him. Even Barret had sunk back down into his chair to listen, though the sudden anger and distrust in the man's gaze had not yet left him. Riku tried firmly to ignore it. He did not want to see how the others took in the information he was revealing. The only one he needed to worry about right now was Cloud, and the blonde's face was inscrutable which made Riku continue.

"One day, when I returned from gathering food, Sora had found an injured soldier on the beach and brought him back to our place." Riku closed his eyes for a second, remembering the stubborn look on his friend's face as he exclaimed that he didn't care whether the soldier was an enemy or not; he was still injured and ought to be treated. It seemed such a long time ago after everything Riku had been through since. "Sora insisted on treating his wounds, which probably saved the man's life. Afterwards, he stayed with us for a while until his wounds had healed enough for him to move around properly again. The soldier's name was Leon."

"That's what you get for trusting a soldier," Barret was mumbling. Riku shot him an angry glare.

"Leon and I made an agreement," he told him, voice cold as ice. "He wouldn't tell anyone about us and I wouldn't kill him in his sleep. As far as I know, he honored his part of the deal. That he tells me about Sora having been caught just proves it."

"Yeah, either that or he's gotten a bad conscience for arrestin' your friend in the first place," Barret shot back. "Ye can't trust a soldier! That's rule number one, an' that's all I've gotta say!"

"Yeah, well, for someone with only that to say, you sure open your big mouth a whole damn lot right now!"

"What?! You little..."

"Enough!" Cloud got up and stepped in between Riku and Barret, who had both jumped up and seemed prepared to face each other. He sent each of them a glare that made them back off, though they were both still fuming. Riku knew he would not stand a chance in a fistfight against Barret, but right now, he was more than prepared to start one anyway. Cloud, however, kept his place firmly between the two warring parties while turning to Riku again. "So how come this Leon knew to contact you here? Because I'm thinking you can't only have meet back on Destiny Islands, then, and that's the question I'm most keen on getting the answer to."

Riku sighed impatiently. He was tired of having to explain himself. He should be out there _doing _something instead!

"When Cid, Barret, and I got separated during our supply mission at the Kalm military base, I ran into Leon by chance," he replied. "Seemed he had gotten transferred from the Islands base. He caught me, but when I told him about Shinra's experiments, he let me go. It was pretty obvious that he didn't know anything about them or he wouldn't have let me run."

"Except if he wanted to use you to lead him to us," Barret put in.

"Then I'm pretty sure the soldiers would have been all over us a long time ago already!" Riku snapped.

"Well, Shuriken - my contact - said the man seemed sincere," Yuffie noted, "and she's usually great at judging people. I think I don't doubt the soldier's sincerity, though I would never let him near our place. I mean, even if he is doubting his superiors, he's still an enemy."

"Question is," Cid said, "what does he expect us to do about that picture? We can't exactly break into the Shinra Department; that'd be way too dangerous, even for us."

"Why?" Riku exclaimed. "We've done so many other things; we should go free Sora and whoever else are being kept there! That'd be a hard blow to Shinra and his plans, right? I don't see why we shouldn't be able to do it!"

"It's not that easy, kiddo," Cid replied. "You've never seen the place. It's guarded as goddamn hell. I sympathize with your situation, I really do, but we've gotta think about our survival as well. Coz if we get beaten, then who'll be fightin' the tough fight, hm?"

"Cid's right," Cloud told Riku. "But you're not all wrong either. It _would_ be quite a blow, and an unexpected one, too."

This made Barret stand once more.

"Ye can't seriously be thinkin' of breakin' in there?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "That'd be shitty suicide! It's obviously a trap!"

"I'm not so sure about that," Yuffie argued.

"Yeah? Then show me proof otherwise, which I don't think you have!"

"I don't care whether you're in or not," Riku snapped. "I'm going to save Sora! It's my fault he ended up there because I left the Islands! And Kairi was with him; maybe they got her, too! I'm ready to break into the Department if that's what it takes!"

"I told you I'm not letting you wander off on your own," Cloud said. "Nobody's going anywhere until we've reached a decision!"

"You better listen to him." Tifa spoke for the first time during the discussion and suddenly, all attention turned to her, even though she had not even raised her voice. Her words were calm, but her eyes were resolute as they met Riku's. "I'm not about to lose another friend to Shinra. Don't you think we've had enough deaths already? And listen to yourself, all of you! Arguing isn't going to solve anything, so let's all calm down before we talk about this! We're all tired and on edge and that isn't going to get us anywhere."

It was as if all the rage evaporated from the room as everyone got back to their seats in a sort of awkward silence. Only Riku still stood, still meeting Tifa's gaze. She was right; there _had _been more than enough deaths. But if Sora and Kairi died because of Riku's inability to protect them, then what was the whole point of being here? What was the whole point of freeing the country of Shinra's malevolence if he couldn't share it with his friends afterwards?

Tifa seemed to sense his hesitation because she spoke again, quietly.

"Riku. Please. Let's talk about this in the morning. At least give us the night to think it over before we decide on anything. Wouldn't that be fair?"

He supposed it was, but it still seemed like too long a time to wait before he acted. However, maybe she was right. Maybe he should let them consider what to do, even though he, for one, had already decided.

"Okay," he finally complied.

Since then, time seemed to have moved especially slowly. He had tried to sleep at first, but it had seemed pointless and impossible because images kept haunting his mind. In the end, he had gotten up and gone to the backyard with his sword to train. He didn't know how long he had been there by now; everything was a blur, but his body told him it must be hours. Yet every time he thought he was too exhausted to think and lied down, another wave of worry hit him. It was the longest night of his life, even compared to the first night in the cave after the explosion at the mall. At least back then, Sora and Kairi had been with him ...

The sound of the door to the house opening made Riku sit back up. He stayed where he was on the sand as Cloud approached and sat down next to him.

"So I suppose you'll be going to the Shinra Department no matter what the rest of us decide," the blonde said, more of a statement than a question. Riku didn't reply. Why should he, when the man already knew the answer?

"Thought so." Cloud closed his eyes for a second with a sigh. Then, "Well, I just came to tell you that you won't be going alone. I'll join you."

This was unexpected. Riku could feel his eyes widen as he stared at the man, for a while not exactly sure how to react.

"Did I miss something?" he replied carefully in the end. "The meeting's not already over, is it?"

"No," Cloud said. "But I've already made my decision, much like you've made yours."

"And this isn't some sort of trick to keep an eye on me and stop me at the last second?"

"No. Though whether you believe me or not is up to you."

"Okay." A pause. Then, "But why?"

"Let's just say I have reasons of my own that I don't want to discuss."

"Does Tifa know about this?"

Riku watched Cloud carefully as the expression in the man's eyes changed for just a second, then settled back into the inscrutable depth. Cloud did not seem keen to answer his question, but in the end, he did anyway.

"No."

"I wouldn't be so sure," another voice sounded from the doorway, making both guys look up to see Tifa standing there, one hand at her hip. There was no anger in her voice, no blame, no annoyance - just calm, resolute calm, and a stubborn draw to her small smile. Cloud was the first one to find his voice again after this sudden appearance of hers.

"Tifa, what...?"

"It was pretty obvious from the moment you returned from meeting with your contact," she replied. "Besides, I've made my decision as well. No matter how things turn out, there'll be three of us going."

Cloud got up, facing her now.

"I can't allow that."

"It's not your choice to make," she told him.

Before Cloud had the chance to say anything in protest, yet another voice sounded, this time from one of the upstairs windows as Yuffie peeked out, smile wide in her face as always.

"See, Cid? I told you they would all be assembling here. You got the best spot for watching the show."

Next to her, Cid made a small noise of agreement as he took a drag of his cigarette and slowly let the smoke out, watching the three people in the small backyard.

"And you were right, lass," he said. "Best damn place indeed. Hell, what do we need that morning meeting for? It'll be dangerous like nothing else, but that's why ye'll need a proper plan and all the muscle you can get. You won't be able to take a gamble like that without me so I guess I better go with you to keep an eye on you all. Kids nowadays." He sighed. "Always takin' such damn chances. I think I'm growin' old."

"You'll also need a spy," Yuffie added, "and I'm the best there is!"

"If it turns out this really was all a trap," Barret had appeared in the doorway behind Tifa, "then you can count on me kickin' all your asses off wherever we end up. You must all be insane. But if there's no stoppin' you, I better go along, coz as Cid said, you're goin' to need lots of muscles if you want to break and enter into the Shinra Department. Crazy damn bastards, that you all are! But let's go save that kid."

Finally, Riku got up, his legs shaking from something more than exhaustion as he looked around at the other members of AVALANCHE, barely able to understand what had happened. They were willing to take the chance of breaking into the Shinra Department, to help Sora, and Riku had no idea why. He had more or less given up on convincing them and prepared himself mentally for taking off alone. This... This was almost more than he could handle and he turned away for a moment to make sure they did not see his eyes get wet. He was grateful - Sora would get help! - but suddenly, he was also worried. Because if it turned out that he couldn't trust Leon after all and that it really was a trap, then they may not all make it out of there alive, and this time, if anyone died, it would be his fault. For the first time, he felt the enormously heavy responsibility of making the final decisions in a war and didn't understand how someone could handle this all the time.

"Thank you," he finally said when he had gotten a hold of himself and the moisture in his eyes. "For doing this."

"You're not alone in this, Riku," Tifa reminded him with a smile. "You're one of us - and we don't let each other down. We act together."

Then her eyes moved to meet Cloud's. Riku did not notice how soft Tifa's gaze turned as she did so. But Cloud did and once more, he wished he could make Tifa stay behind. This was going to be dangerous and he would be sure to keep her close at all times. She was the one thing that he would not be able to stand losing. The one who kept him sane. He knew he must protect her, at all costs. Riku had his friends to think of, but Cloud almost regretted his decision to help the kid as he realized how much danger that would put Tifa in. He sincerely hoped that Cissnei's plan would be helpful. He would contact her right away.

Cid was right. This really _was_ a gamble. Cloud could only hope that they would win it.


	13. Sora

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on last chapter! :D

This chapter has been quite a challenge and I've done quite a lot of rewriting, but now it's finally done! :)

AVALANCHE break into the Shinra Department. It's a very dangerous thing to do and everything has to go according to plan for this mission to succeed. Riku knows this, yet he is determined to see it through. He's just worried Sora might not be there anymore ...  
All he wants is to save his friend from the horrors of the Department. But can he?

Enjoy! :)

* * *

**13: Sora**

The next day, Cloud left and did not return until the sun had already set. When he did, he called everyone together in the living room with a set face that seemed graver than ever. From the bag he had been carrying he took out a very detailed blueprint of a building together with a small, weird-looking machine that Riku had no idea what was used for. Cid, however, seemed to recognize it because he whistled softly.

"A code-breaker?" he said.

"Yes," Cloud replied. "But we've only got the one, so we need to decide who's gonna carry it. A contact of mine lentit to me for the sake of this mission. She said we may need it."

"Quite impressive that she's been able to secure one," Cid remarked, "seein' how rare they are. She must be real good to be able to get her hands on government property like that."

Cloud just smiled slightly in reply and turned to the blueprints on the table.

"These," he told them, "give us the exact layout of the Shinra Department. Study them, because we need to know them by heart in two days. We can't be carrying them. Now, here's the plan. Once a month, a prisoner transport arrives at the Department with a fresh load of people for Hojo to choose his new test subjects from. As soon as it arrives at the outskirts of Midgar, guards are assigned to keep an eye on it, just in case something might happen. However, before that point, it should be easy to take control of it. Shinra fools everyone by disguising it as a grocery transport so he doesn't think it needs protection out in the wastelands."

"What do we need the transport for?" Barret asked.

Cloud's smile grew just that little bit bigger.

"Because," he explained, "the easiest way in is in plain sight. We'll attack the transport and take the places of the prisoners and driver. If we do it far enough away from Midgar, it shouldn't be a problem."

"But our faces are everywhere on the arrest warrants of the military," Tifa argued. "Won't they recognize us?"

"It's risky, I agree," Cloud replied. "But everything about this mission is, which is why we'll be wearing heavy-ass make-up. We can't look like us or it will all be over before it's even begun. Anyway, the transport is the easy part. Once we're in, that's when it gets real complicated."

o0o

The first part of the plan went without any problems at all, but as he sat in the back of the van with Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and Barret, Riku began to feel nervous. He fought to keep it from showing, however, because right now it wouldn't be any use at all; they were already past the point of no return. Outside, he knew, there were Shinra guards following the transport at both sides to make sure it reached the Department safely. After all, there would be no excuse if Hojo lost some of his new precious test subjects, would there? Riku just hoped that Cid could keep his cool in the driver's seat and not make anyone suspicious.

He went over the plan in his head once more, then continued on to the blueprints of the facility. He remembered every detail of both things and that calmed his nerves a bit. Then, suddenly, the car stopped. He exchanged a gaze with Yuffie, but it was Cloud who got up first.

"We must be inside," he said quietly. "Cid should open the door in a minute."

Riku hoped he was right.

Minutes went by, but they felt like hours. Then the heavy doors at the back of the transport were heavedopen and Cid's face, with hair, eyebrows, and beard colored black, appeared. He was holding the gun of a Shinra guard.

"Well? Ain't you gettin' out?" he inquired. Riku could have sighed in relief.

Cloud went first, everyone else followed. On the floor of what appeared to be a small, underground parking lot lay two motionless bodies wearing Shinra uniforms. Cid had knocked them out, as planned. Cloud stripped them of their uniforms, then Yuffie set to work tying them up and gagging them before they stuffed the two men in the back of the car where they wouldn't be found too soon.

Cid and Cloud put on the uniforms of the guards while Barret brought out a portablegurneyand spread it out. Then they prepared to split up. Everything was done in silence. This was no time for small talk.

"Okay," Cloud finally said. "All ready?"

The rest of them nodded. They all knew what was going to happen now. Cloud would "escort" Tifa and Riku to the part of the Department where the prisoners were held. In the meantime, Cid would take the "dead body" on the gurney to the morgue, claiming that one of the people they had been transporting had unfortunately died on the way. Once there, he and Barret would work on turning the power off as the main generator was in a room nearby; they carried the code-breaker with them for that purpose. Yuffie would stay behind, ready to get them all the hell out of there in the car as soon as they had found who they'd come for.

There was a long moment of strained silence. Then they moved out.

From the parking lot, a locked door led to the main parts of the building. Cloud swiped the ID card of the dead guard, then replaced it with a fake one of his own that would identify him as a Shinra guard. Riku wondered whether the man was feeling nervous, but if he was, he didn't let it show. In fact, there were no emotions at all in Cloud's face as he droveRiku and Tifa through the door. They all knew that from this point on, every room and every hallway would be under surveillance. If they wanted to pull this mission off, they needed to play their roles completely and flawlessly.

The plain, white cotton garments felt eerily soft against his skin as Riku went first, glancing around to get an idea of the interior of the hallway that he knew would lead them past those major areas where experiments were being conducted. His lips were dry and he had to fight to keep his nerves under control. Fortunately, he thought bitterly, it wouldn't be alarming to anyone if one of Hojo's new subjects did not seem entirely at ease with the situation. More likely, even a panic wouldn't have aroused any suspicion at all. How many people, he wondered, had walked down these hallways, knowing they might never see the outside of this building again?

Without as much as a second glance, Cid pushed the gurneyin the opposite direction.

A man dressed in a lab coat went past Cloud, Tifa, and Riku, stopping for a moment to eye them. Riku could feel his heart beat faster as a part of him was suddenly convinced that the man could tell that something was wrong, that in a moment, he would sound the alarm and their whole plan would lie in ruins … But the man only looked at the prisoners for a few seconds, then he directed his attention to Cloud. The blonde was barely recognizable with his currently brown hair tucked beneath a helmet and his sky-blue eyes concealed behind green lenses.

"The new subjects?" The man asked, then continued without giving Cloud time to answer, "Take them to Professor Hojo's rooms; he'll be with you shortly. He's in a meeting right now. Someone from Shinra's office apparently decided to check up on his affairs. Anyway, I suppose you already know the way?"

"Yes, sir," Cloud replied.

"Well, go on, then." The man waved them off, then continued down the hallway.

"Get a move on!" Cloud sneered to his prisoners while the man was still within hearing range. Riku and Tifa both jumped and picked up the pace just a little, their bare feet making nothing but a soft sound as they continued forward on the cold floor. There was too much at stake to even exchange a gaze.

At first, Riku had been afraid that someone might recognize them despite their disguises, but as they moved further into the building and no one seemed to value them anything more than a glance or two, he began to relax just the slightest bit. So far, so good. It seemed Yuffie had done a damn good job at concealing their identities. Beside him, Tifa's short, red hair might as well have been real and the freckles on her face gave nothing away either. Riku himself had been turned into a dark-haired, brown-eyed youngster with more than a few scars – one of them on his face – from what could be assumed to be street fights.

The further into the center of the building they came, the more people passed by them, carrying stacks of reports, pushing trolleys in front of them where the contentshad been concealed, sharing casual conversations as they went along. If he hadn't known that this was the center of all Shinra's evildoings, Riku would not have deemed it any different from other workplace. But knowing what happened here, this everyday-life attitude just gave him the creeps. Did the people here have no conscience?

He shuddered slightly, but firmly told himself to focus. Around the next corner would be the inspection room where Hojo regularly went to take a look at the new subjects and decide which ones he wanted to keep. Those who weren't chosen by the professor were sent somewhere else, most likely to one of the prisoner camps placed in a distance far enough away from Midgar to keep people from questioning it. Every decent citizen were to believe that the government was taking care of them and only put murderers and worse out there, even if the truth was that they also put people who opposed them away. It was a well-kept government secret.

From the inspection room, one door would lead into Hojo's private laboratories where only those who had obtained special permission were allowed to enter. Another door would give you access to the area where the prisoners/experiments were held. That was where the group was going.

The inspection room turned out to be a very simple, white-walled room, with only one cupboard at the far end next to a weighing machine. There was only one camera angled towards Hojo's lab. Cloud carefully closed the door behind them to make sure no unwelcomeeyes would notice them, then let out a small sigh of relief.

"So far so good," he mumbled. "But it's not over yet."

"Do you think Barret and Cid made it down to the morgue?" Tifa asked.

"Hopefully," he replied, checking his watch. "We'll find out in two minutes. Riku?"

"Ready." He moistenedhis dry lips as he walked on quiet feet to the door leading to the prisoner cells. Once he reached it, he stopped for a second or so before he finally put his hand on the handle. He was afraid, he realized, of what he would find in the room behind it. What if something horrible had happened to Sora? What if it was so bad he wouldn't even be able to recognize his friend? Or what if Sora wasn't there at all, what if he had already been moved to some other location; how would Riku ever find him then? The thought alone was almost enough to make him panic, but he fought it off and pulled down the handle, ready to open the door.

One minute went by, feeling like eternity. Then two. The three rebels in the room all held their breath, waiting. This was it. Their one chance, and it all depended on Barret and Cid. Cloud and Tifa had time to exchange a nervous gaze as the seconds ticked by in which the power in the building should have already been turned off. Then, just as they were starting to think their friends might have been caught in the act, the room went dark.

A few seconds later, the faint, fluorescentlight of the small, green lamps fluttered into life. The whole building was now running on back-up power, to keep the entire building from going into a black-out and keep life-support systems online. From this moment on, there would be people working to get the main power back on, a process that would take at least twenty minutes.

Riku pushed the door open and entered the room to find himself in what seemed the size of a small and narrow hallway. On each side of him, people of all ages were held suspended in cells filled with a transparent fluid, appearing to be in a kind of stasis. He counted ten of them as moved along the rows, looking for one face in particular. There was no time to worry about the horror of Shinra and Hojo again.

Finally, at the end of the right row, he found him. Sora. Riku breathed a deep sigh of relief. His friend appeared unharmed, at least physically. He waited in front of the cell for Cloud and Tifa to get inside Hojo's room, from where a safety switch could empty and open the cells; an emergency procedure installed just in case. It didn't take them long; Riku noticed how the fluids slowly slipped away, as if sucked through a pipe. The prisoners started to move, slowly, carefully. But Riku only had eyes for one of them.

As soon as the last of the fluids had disappeared, the door slid open. Riku caught Sora as his friend tumbled out of the cell, his eyes dazed.

"Sora! Hey, Sora! Come on, look at me!"

It took a moment for Sora's eyes to focus.

"Who are..." His voice was hoarse and the words seemed somehow clumsy.

"It's me," Riku replied, removing his wig to make it easier for his friend to recognize him. "It's Riku."

A few seconds went by again while the younger boy tried to gather his thoughts. When he finally succeeded, his blue eyes widened and Sora threw his arms around his friend.

"Riku! You're alive!"

"Yeah," he replied with a smile. "I'm sorry for disappearing on you, but I'll explain everything as soon as we get out of this place. Sora, is Kairi here as well?"

Sora, still not fully recovered from his comatosestate, furrowed his brow, as if trying to think. Then he shook his head fervently.

"No; no, she's not here. They didn't get her; she wasn't with me when they caught me."

"Good." Relieved, Riku grabbed Sora's arm and made his friend lean on him. "Come on, then. Let's get you out of here."

They started towards the other room while the other prisoners, many of them as dazed as Sora, some even more, slowly started to realize what had happened. They had been let out, and not by doctors who were going to take them for experiments, but by someone else. When Tifa appeared in the doorway, calling for them to follow her, they didn't hesitate. Riku and Sora were the last ones to get out of the room and Tifa sent Riku a smile as he passed her.

"So you found him," she said. "I'm glad."

"Yeah," Riku replied. "Me too."

She was about to say something more when the shrillsound of an alarm began to sound. The two rebels exchanged a gaze, knowing what had happened. Someone in the building had figured out that something was wrong and activated the emergency shutdown. Cloud's contact had told them that this procedure would take ten minutes on emergency power. Ten minutes. No more, no less. Then all doors would be closed. They had to hurry.

Cloud had already opened the door to the hallway they had come from and was leading the prisoners in the direction of the parking lot. They all followed him, the sound of naked feet against the cold floor somehow resounding in the hallway for a moment. Then a lot of scientists and a few guards began to appear, coming from the rooms around them and the hallways beyond. But they hadn't counted on the strength of will these unarmed prisoners possessed. Old and young grabbed whatever they could get their hands on and fought their way through. Not all of them would make it out alive.

Cloud, with the gun of a guard in his hands, took down most of the enemy guards around them and sent the scientists to the ground with blows of his fists. Tifa moved to help him, while Riku grabbed a knife from one of the trolleys in the hallway and supported a pale Sora through the masses, trying to keep as out of reach as possible of the enemies. He didn't know how much time had passed, and it worried him. They had to move faster than this if they were to make it!

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who'd realized this. Tifa was shouting directions to the prisoners, sending them running while she and Cloud fought off most of the opposition as best they could. Riku and Sora made it to the rebels' position just as the last two guards hit the ground. Tifa brushed away a lock of red hair from her face.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Riku replied. "Let's hurry!"

"I agree," Cloud cut in. "We've only got seven minutes left."

That's when another door opened from the western hallway and a man in a suit stepped in. Riku recognized him immediately as one of the Turks Tifa and Jesse had pointed out to him at the Sector Six markets: The leader of the group, Tseng. This was probably what the man in the lab coat had meant when he said someone from Shinra's offices was visiting. What was more, Riku also remembered Tifa's words about the Turks: _"Of everyone in AVALANCHE, Cloud is the only one who can match them in strength"_. This was bad news.

The tall man moved towards them with calm steps, his face showing no expression at all. He stopped a few meters away. Cloud took out the guard's sword instead. His face was tense.

"So," Tseng of the Turks said, "you've decided to make a very dangerous move. Well, then. Though I would have liked to capture you rather than kill you, I cannot let you get away. This ends here."

Without taking his eyes off the enemy, Cloud spoke softly.

"Tifa, Riku, go. Get out of here. I'll delay him." His eyes glistened ominously. "Take him down, if I can. Move!"

"No." Tifa shook her head. "I am not letting you take on Tseng on your own, Cloud. There's no way you can settle that fight in less than five minutes."

"That's why I'll be the only one staying behind. There's no point in all of us getting beaten here. You need to get out."

"I'm telling you, no!" Tifa protested.

Cloud gazed at Tifa and must have seen something in her face that assured him an argument would take a lot longer than a fight. He grimaced for a second before his expression turned grave again.

"Fine. Riku, get your friend to safety."

"But..."

"Do it!"

The silver-haired rebel hesitated for a moment, then nodded, turned around, and supported Sora as they broke into a run. He felt horrible about leaving Cloud and Tifa behind because if they didn't make it back, it would be his fault, but there was nothing else to do. Sora was the priority, the one he had risked putting everyone in danger for. He had to get him out before he worried about anyone else! And if anyone could take down a Turk, it would be Cloud and Tifa.

They were getting closer to the parking lot now, only a few more corners to go, a few more hallways to run through. But as they turned a corner, Riku and Sora found themselves face to face with another obstacle. Because there, just exiting one of the rooms in which Riku knew experiments were being conducted, was the very same man whose face he had learned to hate: Professor Hojo, Head of the Shinra Department. Riku stopped short in one end of the hallway; Hojo looked up from the other.

"It would appear," the man almost cackled, "that my subjects are trying to escape. Oh no, we can't have that."

His smile was insane, the eyes behind his glasses filled with anger. Riku let go of Sora and held on to the knife he had managed to procure in the confusion earlier.

"Stay behind me," he told his friend.

"Riku..."

"Stay. Behind. Me," he hissed. There was no time to argue. Hojo might be dangerous.

The professor was moving towards them, his steps slow, deliberate. He seemed to be looking at Riku's face more than at the weapon he was holding.

"I've seen you before," he said slowly. "Oh yes, I remember you now. You're the interesting one from Destiny Islands; the one who escaped."

Riku didn't reply.

"How nice of you to pop in," the man continued. "Then I might still get to do some work on you after all."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Riku replied coldly, "but I'm not staying."

Hojo folded his hands in front of him.

"Oh," he said, "I think you are."

"Yeah? And who's gonna stop me from leaving? You?"

The man simply smiled. That's when Riku, unnerved by his eerie expression, struck. The professor stepped back as Riku went for his side, but Riku hadn't expected him to stay put and changed the direction of the blade. It went into Hojo's shin-bone instead, and the scientist hissed and tried to get a grip of him. The rebel avoided his hands, rolling out of reach and getting up again. His resolution grew with every passing second; Riku was determined that nothing was going to stop him from getting Sora out! He spun around and kicked Hojo in the stomach. The professor stumbled backwards and hit the wall, sliding down to lean against it.

Professor Hojo of the Shinra Department ... The source of all the experiments Shinra had agreed to support. The one who created Darkness. The one whose fault it was that Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge had died. Hojo was not a man who was supposed to live. It was as if all the helplessness Riku had felt during his time with AVALANCHE, all his grief and his rage, it all built up inside him until it become a cold, boiling anger. He moved towards Hojo, one step at a time, determined to end this here, now. There would be no escape for the professor.

Hojo hadn't moved. He appeared to have been knocked out by the collision with the wall. Well, that made it all the easier. Riku finally reached the limp body and held up the knife, ready to strike ...

That's when Hojo threw himself forward and knocked his opponent to the floor. The knife fell out of Riku's hand and he fought to get a hold of his enemy. But this time, Hojo was faster. Riku felt a sudden pain in his arm, like a bee stinging, only much worse, and he gasped.

Then Hojo was pushed off Riku, and the rebel looked up to find out what had happened. Sora, his fists raised for a battle, stood beside them, his blue eyes stubborn.

"Don't touch my friend!" he yelled.

Hojo, finding himself outnumbered, got up and stepped away. But as he looked at Riku, there was an ominous glint in his eyes that sent a shiver down the young rebel's spine. However, there was no time to think about it now. Riku got up, his arm still throbbing from whatever Hojo had done to it. Sora bent down and picked something up from the floor.

"We've gotta get moving," Riku told him and Sora nodded. None of them saw the dangerous smile on Hojo's lips as they started running.

They made it to the parking lot without encountering any more trouble. Cid and Barret were waiting in the doorway, the bodies of a few guards who had tried to stop them on the floor. As soon as he saw Riku, Barret went into a rage.

"What tha hell took you so long?!" he demanded to know. "An' where tha hell is Cloud an' Tifa?"

"Fighting Tseng," Riku snapped back.

"If they don't get here soon," a tense Cid remarked, "we'll have to leave without 'em."

They all knew it. AVALANCHE had agreed that no matter what happened, those who made it back to the van before the ten minutes were up had to go and leave the rest behind. But they had all hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Get in the van," Cid told Riku. "It's crowded, but there's room for you anyway."

Riku just nodded and did as he was told this time.

"Two minutes," he heard Barret mumble.

The bad conscience for leaving Tifa and Cloud behind hit Riku. If only he had stayed to help them fight maybe they would be here now. Three would always be better than two. Sora might have been able to find his way to the parking lot on his own. Because of Riku's stupidity, they might lose two more members ...

Barret had crawled into the back of the van and Cid in the front with Yuffie when two figures appeared in the doorway. Cloud and Tifa, both very out of breath and both with minor injuries, sprinted into the parking lot. Barret, who had been just about to close the door in the back, gave a yell of joy and held it open for them to literally jump in. Riku heard Cid's voice - "Go! Go, damn it, go!" - and the wheels of the van screeched as Yuffie pressed down the accelerator.

Through the still half-open backdoor, Riku saw the gates to the Shinra Department close behind them only mere seconds after they had driven through them. He let out a deep sigh of relief as they sped away from the area and into the concealing streets of Midgar.

o0o

They didn't take any of the major roads as they made their way through the Sectors and toward Hollow Bastion. At the outskirts of Sector 7, Yuffie stopped the van and dropped off the rest of AVALANCHE, along with Sora. She didn't get out of the car, but she held the door open as she spoke,

"I'll get the former prisoners out of Midgar," she promised. "I know a place where they'll be safe. And if something's happened to them that we can't undo just like that, well, I'm pretty sure at least a couple of the people there will know how to deal with it."

What exactly she meant by that last remark, no one wanted to ask. It was better, they all silently agreed, if they didn't know. Yuffie closed the door and drove on. The rest of the group looked at each other, small smiles slowly spreading on everyone's faces. Then Tifa giggled. At first, everyone stared at her. Then Barret couldn't keep back a small laugh too, and soon, all of them were laughing as they removed the wigs and contacts that they had been wearing. They had done it. They had actually done it! They had broken into the Shinra Department and gotten out of there alive! No more lives had been lost!

Sora strength seemed to be coming back to him. The more time that passed since their escape, the lighter his steps got. Riku's smile grew wider as he noticed. His friend was already asking everyone a lot of questions and happily joined in the conversation. The darker subjects - what had happened to him during his time in the Department and the tough side of rebelling - were saved for later. Right now, all that mattered was that they had all made it out, and that as soon as the adrenalin had settled down, they knew they would all be starving.

As they reached 7th Heaven and moved beyond it to the building that was Hollow Bastion and home, Riku let out a small, content sigh. He was feeling better than he had for a long time. Somehow, he realized, he had been on guard ever since he got caught on Destiny Islands. Though there had been time to relax with AVALANCHE, it was as if he had been constantly aware of their dangerous situation. But now that Sora was at his side ... He felt happy. Also, his friend had told him that Kairi hadn't been with him when he was captured. That meant she might still be safe, on the Islands. Maybe, if he could convince the others, they might go there, find her, and bring her back with them ... Sora and Kairi could stay at Hollow Bastion; they didn't have to be part of the actual rebelling - Riku knew he would prefer if they weren't - and they could be safe.

He smiled. He might just discuss this with the others tomorrow. For now, he would like to find a couch or a bed to crash on.

Tifa turned on the light in the hallway and made her way into the kitchen where she rummaged through the drawers to find something that would be easy to prepare. Cloud joined her, and the others went to the living room. Sora was taking it all in with curious eyes and a wide smile that made Riku laugh.

"Sora, stop gaping like that!" he said. "I'll show you around just as soon as we've eaten."

"I'll take you up on that!" Sora replied. "I don't care if you're too tired; now you've promised."

Riku sent him a grin.

"Yeah, right. You'll probably fall asleep the moment you're full and forget all about the tour," he pointed out.

This time, Sora was the one to grin.

"No way!"

"We'll see about that."

Ten minutes later, Cloud and Tifa joined the others in the living room, carrying a tray of biscuits.

"That's all you're gonna get," Tifa declared, "unless you cook something yourself. My whole body is sore and I'm not gonna make it worse by standing in the kitchen all night."

"I'll get the med kit," Cloud said. "We should probably take a look at your injuries, get the wounds cleaned."

Tifa raised an eyebrow.

"My so-called injuries are as minor as yours," she pointed out, "but I know that what you really want to do is go change. So feel free. I know I'll do the same soon. I'm tired of wearing the clothes of prisoner's."

Cloud sent her his small shadow of a smile and turned around, leaving the room. Tifa watched him go with a tenderness in her eyes that no one but Cid noticed, since everyone were already too busy helping themselves to the biscuits she had brought.

Some ten minutes later, the tray was empty. Cloud had returned and had taken a seat in a couch. The room was filled with the sound of voices, mainly Sora's asking questions and Barret's answering them. The man seemed to be particularly fond of the brunette's interest and admiration, which made Riku grin. Barret always played the tough guy, but somehow, Riku had found that he was quite the softie behind that facade.

A yawn made its way to Riku's lips and he realized that he would probably have to go to bed soon. In any case, Sora was too preoccupied right now to notice if Riku sneaked off to his room and postponed the tour of the place till tomorrow. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this relaxed. Sora was safe. Riku closed his eyes ...

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head. He gasped and clasped a hand to his temple. He only just had time to consider that maybe it was just that he was really exhausted when it happened again, this time worse. Then again; the pain spreading to his entire body. He heard a scream and realized that it was his own as the pain continued to hit him like bullets, making his blood boil and his skin feel as if it was burning and his head about to explode ...

From somewhere that seemed very distant, he heard the sound of his name being called, but it was only for a moment, then the pain was all he sensed. He tried to fight it, but it was impossible. And it hurt. It hurt so bad, and got worse with every breath. The pain was everywhere and there was nothing he could do to stop it.


	14. Melody of Agony

**A/N: **Hey everyone!

I'm sorry; I know it's taken me forever to finish this chapter! I'm in my second year of university and things have been kind of crazy, with exams and homework and assignments, so I've barely had any time left for writing!  
Also, something very crucial happens in this chapter, so I had to make sure I got all the details right! I've even drawn a time line to keep track of everything that has happened in the story so far, which resulted in me having to go back to a couple of previous chapters and make some minor changes in time intervals (so nothing big, really, extremely minor) to make everything fit together the way I wanted it to. Forgot to copy my a/n for the chapters I made changes to, however, so they're sort of gone. /: I'm kinda sad about that.

But I'll stop yabbing now! Here's the chapter, and I do hope you'll enjoy it! This story is still on my WIP list and will definitely continue to be, so I hope I haven't discouraged you all from reading it with the long wait. :) The chapter is slightly longer than usual and I really like some of the stuff in here, so I hope you will too!

Also, thanks for the reviews on my last chapter! They keep my motivation up!

/Yono.

* * *

**14: Melody of Agony**

"Riku!"

The moment Riku crumbled to the floor, Sora was by his chair. Riku was shaking uncontrollably and crying out in pain, though he barely seemed to be conscious. Sora grabbed his shoulders and tried to get him up, but couldn't, and he realized that Riku's skin was burning hot, worse than any fever Sora had ever felt before ...

Then Cloud was there, quickly lifting Riku, and calling out to Tifa at the same time.

"Get our medicines! I'm taking him upstairs!"

She obeyed and ran from the room while for everyone else time seemed to stand still. Every one of them had gotten up, but it was as if they couldn't move, and Cloud figured it was because they were in shock. They had all believed, even him, that the mission had been a complete success, and that they had gotten away with nothing but a couple scratches ... But it seemed they had been wrong. And as he carried the by now unconscious Riku upstairs, Cloud couldn't help but having a really bad feeling about this sudden illness. Had it been any place but the Department they had attacked, he wouldn't have been as worried, but who knew what he might have caught there?

Tifa was in the room only moments after Cloud had put Riku down onto the bed. She was carrying the med kit and a box that had once belonged to Aerith; a box of a brown basket-like weaving that contained their medicine for emergency cases. She placed both on the bed side table and came to Cloud's side. Riku was still gasping with pain as he moved on the bed, unable to stay still.

"Have you ever seen something like it before?" she asked.

Cloud didn't reply. Instead, he went to the box and chose two small bottles of liquid, one of them an almost unbelievably emerald green, the other a strong sun-like orange-yellow. He handed them to Tifa.

"I'll hold him. You make sure he drinks this."

Tifa did as she was told as Cloud grabbed a hold of Riku and forced his body up, enough for Tifa to make him drink. She was careful as she held his head and practically had to force the liquid into the boy's mouth, keeping it closed until his reflexes made him swallow. Then they waited. The potions were made from Aerith's recipes and they only had a few, but they had always worked. If Riku had been poisoned, Remedy would take care of it, and Cure would heal even any inner injuries before they could turn fatal.

For a long moment, it seemed as if nothing happened. Then a sigh escaped Riku's lips and he stopped moving. Gently, Cloud lowered him down onto the bed again and felt his head.

"He's still burning up," he mumbled.

The two exchanged a worried gaze. The two potions combined usually worked their magic very fast. This was a bad sign, and it made Cloud even tenser than he was already. The Shinra Department ... He really hoped he was wrong. Because when and where could Riku have gotten it, anyway? They hadn't exactly stayed there for long! But the symptoms and now Aerith's failed medicines ...

"Is he going to be okay?" a voice sounded.

Neither Tifa nor Cloud had realized that Sora had followed them before. Now he stood in the doorway, his blue eyes reflecting the worry Cloud felt, but somehow even stronger. Again, Tifa and Cloud looked at each other. They didn't know yet what to tell him.

"Hopefully," Tifa said in the end. "We can't know for sure yet, not until we know exactly what's wrong."

"Maybe this can help," Sora replied gravely and held out his hand.

Cloud felt his heart stop at what the kid held. It was a syringe.

Quickly getting himself together, Cloud took off his shirt and in lack of anything better used it to carefully pick up the syringe in Sora's hand.

"You didn't touch the end of it, did you?" he asked.

"No," Sora replied. "At least not enough for it to penetrate my skin. What is it?"

"I'll find out. Tell me what happened. I need to know the details."

"Well, when we left you," Sora said slowly; it had been in the midst of all the confusion and he had still been weak at the time, barely able to keep up the pace that Riku and he had had to set, "we went down some hallways, and then we ran into the guy with the glasses, Professor Hojo. Riku fought him ..."

Cloud bit his lip. Of course it had to be Hojo. He didn't like the sound of that.

"I think the professor stuck him with this. I picked it up before we ran again."

"And what did Hojo do?"

Sora frowned.

"He just sort of ... retreated into the shadows. He didn't even try to follow us. We reached the parking lot safely from there."

His fears almost confirmed, Cloud knew what he had to do now. Convincing himself there might still be hope, he went to the med kit and retrieved a small scalpel, plasters, and two more bottles, empty ones this time. Next, he squatted down next to Riku and lifted the boy's arm, lightly cutting it. Riku was too far away to notice, and as the blood slowly flowed from the cut, Cloud held the bottle just below it. When he was satisfied with the amount of blood in it, he put on the cork and bandaged the wound before labeling the bottle. He could feel both Tifa and Sora's eyes on him.

"I'll need a blood sample from you as well, Sora," he told the youngster. "Better safe than sorry."

As Tifa gently got a sample from Sora, Cloud examined Riku carefully once more. The boy was still unmoving on the bed, but his breathing already seemed to have quickened almost unnoticeably again. When Tifa handed Cloud the small bottle of blood, he finally moved his gaze away from Riku.

"I'll take these with me," he explained, holding up the samples. "I know someone who'll be able to tell us exactly what's in the syringe and whether that's what's in Riku's system too. Until I get back ..."

He took a deep breath.

"... I'll need you to lock the door and keep everyone away from this room. It's important. If you do enter, don't do it alone."

"What?" Sora exclaimed. "So we're just going to leave Riku like that when he's sick?"

"It's a precaution we have to take," Cloud said curtly. "I don't have time to explain right now; just do as I say. I mean it!"

Sora didn't seem especially happy about it, but didn't argue any further. Tifa took a small step forward.

"Cloud ..." As he turned to look at her, she found in his eyes what she had feared she might. "You think it's Darkness."

"I don't know yet," he replied quietly.

"But you suspect it," she declared.

Once more, he couldn't hide anything from her. Instead of trying to prove her wrong when what she said was the truth, he simply nodded. He could see the shock in her eyes when she looked at Riku, then back at Cloud. Shock, and fear. She was afraid. But not _of_ the boy, Cloud could tell. _For_ the boy. Tifa was amazing like that. She had never seemed to truly fear the darkness the way he did.

"I'll be leaving now," Cloud said. "I meant what I said before: Keep the door locked! When I come back, I'll know more about the situation."

When he had made sure that both Tifa and Sora had left Riku and closed the door, Cloud went to put on a new shirt and find something in which to wrap the syringe. Not that it would matter all that much if he touched it, he thought wryly. The damage had already been done.

He met Tifa again on the way out. As he was about to head out the door, she touched his hand.

"Hurry back," she whispered. "And, Cloud ..." Again he met her eyes, those beautiful hazel eyes that still shone with worry. For those eyes alone, he would hurry faster. Her next words just made that decision even firmer.

"I really hope you're wrong."

o0o

Cloud called Cissnei the moment Hollow Bastion was out of sight.

"We need to meet," he told her. "It's important. I have a request for you."

_"A personal request?"_ she wanted to know.

"Yes," he replied, "and you're probably the only one who can help me with this."

She was quiet for a while, long enough that Cloud began to worry about it. Then she finally spoke again.

_"Meet me downtown. I'll text you the location."_

o0o

Twenty minutes later, Cloud found himself in the seedy corner of an equally seedy bar that he had never been in before. Across the table from him was Cissnei, her cobber red hair as casually framing her face as always. Yet there was a worried frown on her face, something he had only very rarely seen there the times they had met. On the table between them lay the wrapped syringe and the small bottles Cloud had brought.

"You're right," the woman said finally. "I _can _run some tests. But are you completely certain you want the results? You might not like them."

"I know," Cloud told her. "But it won't do me any good to stay ignorant to it, either. It can't be any worse than what I already suspect it is."

She looked him over, but he knew his face was as unreadable as he could make it. In the end, Cissnei sighed, carefully picked up the three items, and put them in her bag.

"I'll need a couple hours," she told him as she got up. "I'll text you when the test results are ready. You better find something to keep you occupied in the meantime."

Then she left. Cloud considered going back to Hollow Bastion, but he had promised he would know more when he did, and so, he ended up simply walking around the city while time seemed to run too slowly. With everything that had happened lately, he caught himself once again thinking of leaving AVALANCHE behind, but if it was true that Riku had been infected with Darkness, he knew he couldn't. The boy was strong, but was he strong enough to withstand it?

Cloud rubbed his temples. He hadn't expected this to happen. In fact, he had to admit that he hadn't even considered it a risk when they decided to break into the Shinra Department. There had been so many scenarios in his head of things going wrong, but never something like this. He hoped Tifa wouldn't see, wouldn't notice ... Cloud had managed to keep his secret for so long now, because he wouldn't be able to bear it if Tifa knew. But with Darkness this close to them ... How could she _not _find out? Yet another reason to leave, even if he knew he couldn't.

There were so many things on his mind that the vibration in his pocket from his phone receiving a text almost startled him. He quickly took it out and checked Cissnei's message. Glancing at the time as well, he realized that three hours had passed already. No wonder his body was starting to get exhausted; he had barely slept since AVALANCHE had begun to plan their latest mission, and he couldn't keep back a yawn as he turned and headed toward Cissnei's meeting place.

Her frown had disappeared, Cloud noticed as they met in an alley way where they could talk without being overheard. Either she had managed to repress it or she had better news for him than he had expected.

"So I've got some results for you," she said, straight to the point without the need for a greeting first. "But I have to admit they baffle me a bit."

This time, it was Cloud's turn to frown.

"How so?"

She sighed and handed him a piece of paper and the bag with the syringe and bottles as she explained,

"The substance in the syringe isn't Darkness; it's a tranquilizer. It's mainly used as a sort of sedative, to make a subject weak and stop them from struggling. I've seen it mentioned before. But it clearly doesn't fit the symptoms you described at all."

He waited for her to continue. It was clear to him that she wasn't done yet.

"So of course I ran a test of the blood as well. The one you'd labeled S was clean; there was only a trace of something that's already gone. The other sample, however, is another matter. You were right; there is Darkness in the blood, but your friend didn't get it from that syringe. There were traces of the tranquilizerin his blood as well, butare you sure this is the only syringe that's stuck him? Or could he have gotten it somewhere else?"

Cloud was about to reply that he didn't know how else it could have happened, unless Sora's description of what had happened had been wrong and Hojo had had enough time to inject Riku with both things. But then he suddenly remembered the first time they had met the boy: During the mission on Destiny Islands, where they had gone to the military base to try and get to Hojo ... And, as he recalled the details, he knew that it was very likely that the professor would have gotten the chance to inject the Darkness there. For one thing, they had found Riku in the same room as Hojo. Furthermore, if his memory was correct, there had been test tubes in the room as well.

But if it was true that Riku had gotten infected with Darkness already on Destiny Islands, then he had been carrying it in his systems for three months by now. Also, he had somehow managed to keep it dormant all that time. The tranquilizer must have weakened his system and given the Darkness a chance to finally attack ... Well, apparently, Cloud had been wrong about Riku's strength. He might just make it after all.

"I think I know where he got it," Cloud said. "Thanks, Cissnei. I really appreciate your help."

"You're welcome," she replied. "I hope your friend gets better, Cloud. If not ..."

"I'll know how to deal with it," he finished the sentence for her, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Cloud didn't like the prospect of what he might have to do if Riku couldn't fight the Darkness in the end.

"Let me know if you need anything else," Cissnei told him. "And ... good luck."

She sent him a small smile as she walked past him and continued out of the alley way. Cloud stayed there for a while, thinking through once more what he had realized. Then he, too, left and headed back to Hollow Bastion. He knew Tifa would be waiting anxiously for an answer.

o0o

The only light on his way back to Hollow Bastion was provided by the dim street lights, and it was that light that allowed Cloud to see the figure standing outside the door, leaned against the wall of the house that had been repaired so many times over. He knew that figure; he would never not recognize it, and he wasn't surprised that Tifa was waiting for him here. In her eyes, he saw the questions she wanted him to answer, yet she didn't speak. She let him break the silence first.

"It's like I feared," he admitted, because he knew that was what she most of all wanted to know, and her worried gaze grew even graver at his words. But still she didn't speak. "Would you gather the others in the living room? I'd like to talk to all of you at once."

Then he wouldn't have to tell the news four times in one night. This was serious, and it would be a waste of time - time he needed to consider exactly how to deal with this situation. Even if he had been working on scenarios and possible solutions in his mind all the way back from the city center, he still hadn't come any closer to what might be best. All he was sure of was that it would first and foremost be Riku's fight, not his own, though somehow he wasn't sure that the thought comforted him.

Tifa nodded at his request and went inside. He followed her after a moment, taking a deep breath before entering the living room. It seemed she didn't have to go far to gather everyone; it was likely they had not moved from the room at all since Cloud's departure. Cid was in an arm chair, Barret occupied the couch with Sora next to him, the boy looking very small compared to Barret's big body. Tifa hadn't sat down; she was standing near the window, lightly fingering the curtain, but she let go of it and turned around to face Cloud when he entered. Still he could see that deep worry in her hazel eyes. He wished he could do something to relieve it, but knew it was impossible.

How was he going to start this explanation? How could he tell them about Darkness without revealing too much? There was so much at stake here, yet the things he would rather leave unsaid had to be partly said, which unnerved him. Still his face was as unreadable as he could possibly make it. Only Tifa might see through it, like she often could, and she was the one from whom he wanted to hide it the most. But he had to speak now. Riku's illness had left him no choice.

"I don't know how much Tifa and Sora told you about what we know for sure happened to Riku during our break-in at the Shinra Department," he began slowly, feeling his way with the words as he spoke, "but in a fight with Professor Hojo, Hojo managed to inject Riku with a fluid. As far as we could guess, that's what caused his attack back here."

So far, so good. Everyone were listening attentively. Sora was on the edge of his seat, blue eyes betraying how nervous he felt, for the sake of his friend.

"I had my contact run some tests on the blood samples we collected from Riku, and from Sora. Sora's was clean, except for traces of something that seems to have already left his system. No traces of Darkness. But Riku's got it."

From the looks the others exchanged, Cloud could tell that Tifa had already filled them in on their suspicions. Cid, he suddenly noticed, was holding the stump of a cigarette in his hand. He had been smoking just recently, but there was no trace of smoke. It was likely he hadn't even noticed he was still carrying the stump.

"So that's it, then?" Barret said quietly. "We've lost him? Just like that? I ain't gonna accept that! I ain't gonna ..."

His voice trailed off and he looked down. There was an atmosphere of hopelessness in the entire room, because everyone knew what Darkness did to people, what they had seen it do. They were all afraid Riku would become like the victims, the lab rats that they had seen before. This was where it got difficult. Cloud took a small breath before he continued.

"No," he replied. "We haven't lost him yet."

Barret and Cid looked up in surprise, Sora's eyes widened and a smile started to form on his face. Tifa met Cloud's gaze and waited. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Darkness can be fought," Cloud declared. "It's not easy, but I've seen it done. And Riku has been fighting it, longer than any of us have known. I doubt he even knew it himself."

"What do you mean?" Cid frowned.

"The blood test," Cloud explained, "showed Darkness. But the substance in the syringe didn't; that was simply a tranquilizer used to weaken the power of Hojo's victims so they won't fight back. Remember where we first found Riku?"

Tifa's eyes widened. She, at least, had understood what he was getting at.

"When we went to Destiny Islands, it was to capture the professor," he continued. "We found Riku in the same room as him. I think, based on the evidence, that Hojo must have already injected him with the Darkness back then."

"But ..." The space between Barret's eyebrows grew shorter as he thought this over, "... then wouldn' we have known? Darkness ain't somethin' to keep itself hidden, far as we've seen."

"No," Cloud agreed. "Riku's body must have been fighting it all that time. I suppose it's somehow been dormant, until Hojo's tranquilizer entered Riku's system and tipped the scale. That's the only explanation I can find that's plausible. And if he's already fought it subconsciously, then he can do it consciously too. He just needs to keep his head level, because the Darkness isn't easy to suppress, from what I know."

This was it. The decisivemoment. This was when he would either pass or lose. If he failed now, they would all know, and everything would change. He couldn't look at Tifa as he went on,

"It messes with a person's mind as well as with their body. First, there's the pain you all saw hit him. Then, when it's left you weakened and out if it, the Darkness brings up images, of everything that ever made you angry or made you feel hate. It lets you experience hallucinations as well, horrible ones where you lose everything you care about. In the end, when a person has reached a point where all he wants is to let go of the pain, that's when the Darkness takes over. The people we've met so far have run from the pain. They lost the fight, but not everyone does. Someone I once knew never did."

After his revelation, there was complete silence in the room. Cloud had expected Sora to look confused, but there was only a grave stubbornness in his blue eyes. Tifa must have explained to him about the Darkness, or he might have learned about it already during his time as one of Hojo's subjects. Cid and Barret both frowned, taking in the information, but he couldn't tell what Tifa was thinking. She wasn't looking at him.

"So what you're sayin' is," Cid finally said, slowly, "that this person you knew was injected with Darkness and didn't go crazy, because he learned how to fight it?"

"Yes."

"And ye think the kid could do the same?"

Cloud nodded.

Cid straightened with a sound of agreement, though Cloud could tell the man wasn't completely certain of whether or not he should believe that Riku really could overcome the Darkness. Cloud didn't blame him, but he felt at least a small hope that the kid might. He wasn't losing another member of their group, and at least this time Cloud would be able to do something _before_ it was too late. It was a change he welcomed.

"If it's a matter of fighting," Sora spoke for the first time since Cloud's arrival, "then it's already settled: Riku's going to win. He's always been stronger than me. I used to hate that fact. But turns out it's a good thing. Him losing isn't even an option. I'm not going to worry."

And with those words, he settled back in the couch and put his hands behind his head. That he wasn't worried wasn't entirely true, Cloud could tell, but at least he did a show of convincing everyone that things would work out in the end. Sora seemed to have an aura of hope around him that Cloud somehow couldn't help but admire, and somehow also couldn't help but envy. He wished he could share in that perfect optimism, but reality was different. Riku had a tough battle ahead of him, but with Sora's faith in him, he might just be able to pull through and win in the end.

"I'm going to check on Riku." Cloud turned and left the living room. Through the corner of his eye, he noticed that Tifa followed. His heart suddenly beating faster, Cloud walked down the hallway, far enough away that they could not be seen from the living room, before he stopped and faced her.

At first, she just stood there, silently looking at him, and still he couldn't tell what she was thinking. For a moment, he let himself hope, badly, that she had not figured it out, that she didn't know ... But then he met her eyes and his hopes were crushed.

"Those symptoms you described ..." she finally said. "I've seen them before. Half a year ago. And there's no use pretending, because we both know what I'm talking about."

And he did know, of course he did. Half a year ago was when she had found him, back when he had still been a mess, shortly after Zack's death. The Darkness had still had a hold of him then; he had only just begun to move in the world around him, slowly finding his way because Zack had told him to live for both of them, to be his living legacy. It hurt just to think about it. Tifa had helped him get back on his feet. And now she knew the one thing he had never wanted her to find out. Yet, in her eyes there was no fear, no disgust and horror, he realized. What he found there instead was hurt. In those deep, hazel eyes was a hurt that he suddenly understood that _he_ had inflicted, and he found himself lost for words as it hit him.

"You know ..." Tifa's voice was quiet. "I always figured that when you were ready, you'd tell me what happened to you during our years apart. But you never seemed to be. And maybe it was stupid of me, to keep waiting, maybe I should have just asked you. But ..." She hesitated for a while, lowering her eyes as to not look at him. "... I guess I was hoping that someday you would feel safe enough about us to confide in me."

Cloud did not know what to reply. The hurt in her eyes had left him almost paralyzed, unable to even think. When she turned around and left, he wanted so badly to pursue her, to break the wall between them. Yet somehow, he still did not know how. What could he possibly say to make her feel better? She had every right to feel hurt, but the reason he had kept this part of his past from her was the one thing he didn't know if she would be able to understand.

So instead, Cloud chose to run from the confrontation and turn to deal with their other problem instead. Riku might be awake by now, and the kid would need to know whatwas happening to him.

o0o

Riku was sitting up in bed when Cloud unlocked the door and entered. The boy was still pale, his breathing slightly heavier than usual, but at least his eyes were clear. It seemed Aerith's medicines had worked after all, though Cloud knew better than anyone that it couldn't cure the Darkness entirely. It might give Riku a break, but they didn't have enough of it to keep using it. He would have to learn to fight the matter under any circumstances.

"It's Darkness, isn't it?" Riku asked before Cloud had a chance to speak. "I heard you talk about it, earlier. It's like ... I could hear everything you were saying, but I was unable to respond at all. Like my body wasn't mine ..."

He let the sentence trail off. Cloud calmly took out a chair and sat down next to the bed. Riku was looking down at the sheets, but Cloud could tell that he had something more on his mind and wanted to let him ask his questions before Cloud started answering them. Apparently, the man's silence was enough for Riku to know that the first answer was yes, it _was_ Darkness, because when he finally spoke again, he said, still not looking up,

"So I'm going to end up like the boy at the factory?" His voice was surprisingly matter-of-factly, though Cloud could sense the fear Riku was trying to conceal behind it and decided it was time to speak.

"No." This one word made Riku look up in surprise. "At least there's a chance you won't."

"What do you mean?" he wanted to know, the hint of hope in his voice tinted with doubt. "I thought you said Darkness couldn't be cured."

"It can't," Cloud agreed. "But it can be fought. You've been fighting it for months already."

The boy's brows furrowed and confusion appeared in his eyes.

"Care to explain that?" he said.

"How much do you remember of what happened at the base on Destiny Islands?"

His question resulted in a long silence from Riku as the boy recalled exactly what had happened a bit over three months ago. It was no wonder he couldn't answer right away; what with everything he had experienced since, it must seem like a lifetime ago already.

"I remember sneaking into the base because we were in need of food," he finally replied slowly. "But I was careless and they caught me. When I regained consciousness, I was tied up in the room where you found me."

Realization suddenly lit up his eyes.

"Hojo was in that room when I woke up," he mumbled. "Are you saying he got me already back then? That he injected me with Darkness, even though the soldiers told him I was to be brought to the main land for interrogation?"

Cloud nodded.

"That's my theory, yes."

"But then why haven't I felt anything before now?"

"That's a good question." Cloud was quiet for a moment before he continued, "Apparently, you're stronger than you seem. Maybe you've managed to keep it dormant because of your conviction to protect your friends. You might even have been able to keep it in check for years if Hojo hadn't managed to inject you with a tranquilizer during our rescue mission at the Department. We'll never know. One thing's for sure, though: If you could fight it subconsciously, you can do it consciously too."

"Yeah?" Riku didn't seem convinced. "How so?"

"I don't know how to explain it exactly," Cloud told him honestly, "but you wouldn't be the first one to succeed. It takes a strong mind, and the will to give up on the power that the Darkness can lend you in return for your humanity. It's a tough road to travel, but I believe you might be able to do it."

"It sounds like something you're just telling me to keep me from losing hope," was the tartreply. "Exactly who else do you know who've managed to overcome the Darkness?"

""Overcome" would be the wrong word," Cloud said. ""Suppress" is better. It's still lying in the corners of my mind. But _I've _done it."

A part of him had hoped he would not have to reveal that fact directly, but in the end, it seemed that to make Riku truly believe that Darkness _could_ be fought, he needed proof, and there really wasn't anything better that Cloud could give him to prove his words wasn't just the words of encouragement they had apparently sounded like to the boy. And now that Cloud had said it out loud, for the first time since he became aware of the Darkness inside him, he found that admitting to it wasn't nearly as terrifying as he had thought it would be.

Riku's eyes widened as he stared at the man and there was another long silence between them. This time, Cloud was the one to break it.

"I was held captive by Shinra for years back when their experiments were still on the early stage, barely aware of my surroundings. The past eight months I've fought to keep it under control. I can still feel it inside, like a constant force that would overthrow me if I ever let it. But I don't. I'm able to suppress it, and that's the whole point. So like I said: It won't be easy - it'll be tough and painful like you've just experienced - but it can be done. You _can _fight the Darkness, Riku. Only question is, are you ready to?"

Again, their eyes met, and in Riku's teal gaze Cloud could already see the answer clearly.

"That's not even a question," he stated. "I _have _to be. I've got people to protect."

The boy leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before he continued,

"If Sora's going to have to stay away from me for a while until I get this thing under control, then I at least owe it to him to explain why. I want to talk to him. You can stay and make sure nothing happens, if you need to, or make someone else watch us or whatever. But I need to talk to my friend."

"Of course." Cloud got up. "He's still awake downstairs. I'll go get him."

"Thanks ..." Riku closed his eyes again, visibly exhausted. It wasn't surprising, given what he had just been through, and Cloud knew only all too well that it wouldn't get any better. But hopefully, the boy would get tougher and then it would _seem_ easier, at least.

As he walked down the stairs, Riku's words echoed through his mind: _"If Sora's going to have to stay away from me, then I at least owe it to him to explain why."_ Riku wasn't going to go through this alone, and the more Cloud thought about it, the more he realized that they both knew this might actually help him in his fight. After all, having someone to fight _for_ made it worth all the effort and eased all the pain. And as Cloud stepped into the living room, he finally realized that as soon as Riku and Sora had had their conversation, there was someone he himself greatly needed to talk to.

o0o

He found Tifa in her room where she was sitting on her bed, facing the window and the greyness of outside. Cloud stopped for a moment in the doorway, watching her, as he had often done before. Her dark hair, though messy and flat from having been hidden under a wig earlier, still looked beautiful and strong, representing her perfectly. She didn't turn around, though he knew she must have noticed his presence. The thought of her words to him less than an hour ago made it easy for Cloud to understand why she couldn't, wouldn't look at him right now. So instead of forcing her to, he went to the bed and sat down next to her. This made her turn for a moment, enough to meet his gaze before looking out the window again. Though she had clearly composed herself since their conversation, if you could call it that, she still wasn't able to hide her feelings of hurt entirely. Cloud took a deep breath. It was about time he told her the truth. He had delayed it so long he hadn't even realized it might, in the end, be for the better, though he wasn't completely convinced of that idea. But this was what she needed, and he owed it to her. After all, she was the one who had gotten him through the fight so far with his mind intact.

"Four years ago ... No, it's more like five now, isn't it? Five years ago, I was in Nibelheim when Sephiroth went insane. I never told you. Back then, I was too ashamed to face you because I hadn't become the SOLDIER that I had left to become. I was just an infantryman, there to assist SOLDIER 1st class Zack Fair and the legendary Sephiroth. I couldn't admit that, not to you. So I hid behind my helmet and you never knew."

She was listening, he could tell. Her gaze wasn't quite on the window anymore. So he continued.

"When Sephiroth went crazy and destroyed the city ... I thought for a moment that I had lost you. But you were still alive. And I helped Zack Fair face Sephiroth, to make him pay for all the lives he had taken from you and me."

Tifa slowly turned around now so they were facing each other.

"You kept your promise," she whispered. "You saved me when I was in danger."

There were so many emotions in her face then that Cloud could feel his heart beat faster. That promise, made years ago, one night at the well in Nibelheim before he had left to become a SOLDIER that might one day win her heart. She had promised to wait for him, but only if he promised her one thing in return. _If you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind_, she had said, _you'll come save me, all right?_

"We didn't win the fight. Not exactly. But Sephiroth disappeared. What happened next ... I don't remember it very clearly. Zack and I were taken to the Shinra Department. We were there for four years, is what I've learned afterwards, but I can't recall much of what they did to us ... I wasn't conscious for much of it. The Darkness experiments were still a new thing back then ..."

This time, he was the one who had to look away. Though it was true that he didn't remember much from the years as one of Hojo's test subjects, the things he _did _remember weren't good memories. And what happened afterwards didn't make it any better.

"Zack and I were both infused with Darkness. But Zack, being a SOLDIER and used to the synthetic treatment that makes them stronger, broke free of Hojo's hold and took me with him. Zack died protecting me, before I had even recovered enough to help him fight at all ..."

He paused again. The painful memory of Zack's death was still as fresh in his mind as the day it happened. The SOLDIER's words rang through Cloud's mind again; _"You'll be my living legacy"_. Those words was one of the reasons Cloud had kept fighting, even when he had thought he couldn't defeat what had been planted inside him during his time as an experiment. The other reason ... The other reason was sitting right next to him now, silent, not interrupting as he finally shared the only part of his past that she did not already know. The hurt in her eyes had changed now; it wasn't her own hurt they reflected any longer.

"I have been fighting the Darkness ever since. The only good thing about it is that I've learned to control its strength as much as I can, to use it as much as I possibly can without being overrun by it. At least I'm able to use what Hojo turned me into in order to bring him and Shinra down."

He took another deep breath before he finally raised his gaze to meet her hazel eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was afraid of what you would think of me if you knew the truth."

Tifa smiled then, a small smile, but one that made Cloud forget all his doubts about finally letting her know. She didn't speak; instead, she took his hand and moved closer, covering the bit of space that had been between them on the bed, and leaned against him. Slowly, his heart beating faster still, Cloud put an arm around her. As they sat there, just the two of them so close, in that moment Cloud felt the wall between them begin to crack. And that was okay.


End file.
